Corridors of Power: In the name of Maitreyi

What is the best way to help a poor woman from any community walk with her head held high? You might say by paying her college fee, helping her acquire a skill, or funding a business she wishes to start. But the Brahmin Development Board in Karnataka has other ideas. The board set up last year by the BJP government seems to have decided that incentivising endogamous marriages is one way of emancipating poor Brahmin women. The board has promised ₹3 lakh to women who marry priests within the community and stay married to them for at least three years. While the name of the scheme – Maitreyi, a woman scholar of ancient India – might lead one to believe that it is women-centric, is it even meant to be? The board chairman, while announcing the scheme, openly talked about the need to help poor priests who have no assured source of income. Is there even room here for a debate on questions of a woman’s choice or problems in rewarding same-caste marriages? The Textile Department’s proposal to procure sarees from weavers, who have been hit by COVID-19 and lockdown, is likely to remain only on paper. To help the weaving community, the Textile Department has submitted a ₹36 crore proposal to the Finance Department seeking money to buy six lakh sarees. It was proposed to procure sarees costing ₹500 to ₹600 each in order to clear the unsold stock. It was to be distributed among COVID-19 frontline warriors such as anganwadi workers, ASHAs, and Home Guards.