View: Give cash incentives to women to enter the workforce and reap the rewards

Last month, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan promised monthly salaries to housewives in Tamil Nadu to reward their housework if his party, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), wins the state assembly elections scheduled for May 2021. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor welcomed the idea, calling it near-universal basic income that will empower women and give them autonomy.These are populist gimmicks to get votes, not to empower women. Far from making them