In the red-soil villages and forest fringes of Junglemahal, dawn arrives long before the sun touches the sal and mahua trees. Women step out into the cool morning air carrying baskets, sickles and water pots, beginning a day that will stretch from agricultural fields to forest paths and finally to the hearth of their homes. Their labour is constant, their responsibilities multiple, and their voices often unheard. Yet these women—farmers, forest gatherers, mothers and wage workers—have become the quiet force behind a region gradually emerging from decades of poverty, conflict and neglect.

Once synonymous with insurgency and fear, the names of villages such as Lalgarh, Ramgarh, Netai and Bhimpur carried the weight of a troubled past. In the forested belts of West Midnapore and Jhargram districts, the years of Maoist violence left communities trapped between security forces and insurgent groups. Explosions, gunfire and political uncertainty shaped everyday life, and development remained distant.

Today the atmosphere has changed. Though economic hardship persists, the spectre of violence has receded and daily life has begun to reclaim its rhythm. Villagers move more freely across markets and forest roads, children attend schools, and agricultural cycles have resumed with renewed stability. At the centre of this fragile transformation are the women of Junglemahal, whose labour sustains both household economies and local agriculture.

For most families, livelihoods remain precarious. Farming small plots of land, collecting dry firewood from forests and working as daily wage labourers form the backbone of rural survival. The reality of poverty is stark. In Nayagram of Jhargram district, 53-year-old Balki Hembram sits beside an empty cooking pot in the early afternoon, waiting for her husband to return from selling bundles of firewood in the market so that rice can be purchased for the evening meal. For families like hers, the margin between sustenance and hunger remains painfully thin.

Yet subtle changes are taking root, particularly through welfare schemes that seek to place economic resources directly in the hands of women.

Welfare schemes and women’s financial agency

One of the most significant policy interventions in West Bengal in recent years has been the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme introduced by the state government. The programme provides monthly financial assistance to women from economically weaker households, particularly those belonging to landless families, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

In regions like Junglemahal, where women traditionally manage household expenditure but rarely control formal income, such direct financial transfers have begun to alter spending patterns and decision-making dynamics within families.

A recent field survey conducted across more than one hundred villages in the Junglemahal region covering approximately 600 households indicates that the scheme has had varied but meaningful outcomes. Nearly 78 per cent of marginal and forest-dependent families reported using Lakshmir Bhandar funds to purchase essential commodities such as rice, oil and vegetables. Others channel the money toward agricultural inputs, repayment of small loans, LPG cylinder refills or children’s education.

For many women, the scheme has also created opportunities to save or invest modestly.

Namita Majhi, a resident of Kankabati in West Midnapore district,........

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