FLO Kolkata, in collaboration with Haqdarshak, undertook a comprehensive Needs Assessment Study on Women’s Access to Government Schemes and Services in September 2026, covering 108 women associated with SheKantha across Kolkata and its peri-urban periphery. The exercise was conducted in New Alipore, South 24 Parganas, and was designed to generate an evidence base for stronger last-mile entitlement facilitation and women-centred financial inclusion.
The assessment revealed a community with significant engagement in informal livelihoods, including mehendi work, sewing, tailoring, beautician services, domestic and care work and other forms of home-based or informal employment. The findings indicated that while basic documents such as Aadhaar, PAN and ration cards were widely held, important eligibility documents—including income, caste and domicile certificates—remained substantially less accessible.
Scheme awareness was concentrated around prominent state and health-related schemes such as Lakshmir Bhandar, Swasthya Sathi and Ayushman Bharat, while awareness and uptake of contributory pension, insurance, savings and investment schemes remained comparatively limited. Although approximately 75% of respondents had applied for at least one government scheme, uptake of savings and investment schemes, pension schemes and scholarships remained low.
The assessment also brought significant financial-inclusion gaps into focus. 45.4% of respondents reported having no savings, while only 44.4% reported having insurance coverage. At the same time, 63.4% were using digital payment platforms, indicating an emerging digital-financial ecosystem that can potentially be strengthened through appropriate awareness and support.
A further dimension of the study was its examination of the practical barriers women face while accessing entitlements. Complex application processes and documentation requirements emerged as prominent challenges, with some respondents reporting repeated visits to government offices.
The assessment also identified strong community demand for health-related financial protection, children’s scholarships, documentation support, pension access and assistance for small businesses. Focus Group Discussions further reflected interest in financial and documentation support for small enterprises and openness towards contributory schemes when their long-term benefits were clearly explained.
Importantly, the exercise mapped relevant government schemes and documentation pathways that could support women across areas including health protection, pensions, savings, insurance, education, worker registration and MSME formalisation. The report specifically identifies instruments such as Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, PM-Suraksha Bima Yojana, PM-Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana, Ayushman Bharat, e-Shram and Udyam Registration.
The study therefore establishes a substantive foundation for targeted scheme facilitation, documentation support, financial-literacy interventions and livelihood-linked government access, strengthening FLO Kolkata’s ability to respond to clearly identified community needs rather than relying solely on generic awareness initiatives.