Free water, housing, food: Modi's $400bn welfare bet to win Indian elections - BBC News

The scale of India's welfare state is staggering - and Narendra Modi is betting on its gains to win votes.

13 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsIndia Election 2024Image source, Bimal ThankachanImage caption, Y Saraswati lost her husband 30 years ago - she says a $35 widow's pension every month gives her dignityBy Soutik BiswasIndia correspondentBalaram Bhallavi and his family might finally get a proper roof over their heads.

For years, a tiled shanty in a sun-drenched village in India's central Madhya Pradesh state has been home to Mr Bhallavi, his wife, and their four school-going children. A strip of a mud-floored foyer packs in a kitchen, a few plastic chairs, two rope beds and fraying clotheslines.

After a three-year wait, the Bhallavi family received 120,000 rupees ($1,445; £1,136) from a programme run by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government last year, allowing them to start building a new home.

More than 25 million homes have been built since 2016 under the rural public housing programme, called the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Prime Minister's Housing Scheme). It is one of the more than 300 federal schemes that Mr Modi is leaning on to bolster support for his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the general election as he eyes a record-equalling third term in office.

"Life is tough. But I am grateful to get money from the government to build my first house," Mr Bhallavi, 42, said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-68236697

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