Kamal Ghorui
Last month, in a grand act of political theatre, roughly 40L women, in Assam, received ₹9,000 each, in their bank accounts. Roughly half of the state’s households received this lumpsum payment as upohar (gift) from mama, as chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, is popularly known. These households already receive ₹1,250 monthly, under the Orunodoi 3.0 scheme. If monthly transfers provide security, a lumpsum bonus is icing on the cake.
When money enters a household, via a woman’s bank account, mama’s gift recasts the recipients as baideo and bhonti (older and younger sisters), and their children as lora-suwali (male and female children). These are more than terms of address; they map a political relationship onto kinship. Female welfare beneficiaries are invited to join an extended household that embraces all castes and tribes in Assam. A needy citizen’s right (adhikar) to welfare, thus, becomes a gift (upohar).
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