Conditional cash transfer
Also called: CCT · Topic: Poverty and Inequality: Measurement and Policy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A conditional cash transfer (CCT) is cash paid to poor households only if they follow certain behaviour. Examples of such conditions are sending children to school or going for health check-ups. The aim is to build human capital, meaning people's health and education. So a CCT gives relief today and also tries to reduce poverty in the next generation.
Example
The Janani Suraksha Yojana (2005) pays mothers who give birth in a health facility. Kanyashree in West Bengal (2013) pays girls who stay in school and delay marriage. It won the UN Public Service Award in 2017. Well-known foreign examples are Mexico's Progresa (1997) and Brazil's Bolsa Família (2003).
Don't confuse with
- Unconditional cash transfer / universal basic income (UBI): here the cash comes with no conditions attached. For example, PM-KISAN (2019) pays ₹6,000 a year to landholding farmer families. A UBI would also be paid to everyone, not just to targeted poor households.