Independent analysis · 2026

A phone the welfare system assumes

Where digital welfare assumes a phone a woman does not actually use.

Where: Independent spatial analysis
Role: Independent analyst
Period: 2026
Methods: State-level mapping · NFHS-5 factsheets
Output: Ranked state map of the account-to-phone gap and a note on what it means for OTP-based welfare.

The question

OTP, e-KYC and portability assume a woman can be reached on a phone she herself uses. Where she has an account she uses and a phone she does not, the system has a number it cannot speak to.

In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, own-use accounts run more than 30 points ahead of own-use phones. Digital welfare that depends on OTP assumes the narrower number.

Gap = own-use bank account minus own-use mobile phone, women 15–49. Phase-II states only. Source: NFHS-5 factsheets. Spatial unit is the state. This is a ranked cartogram of the gap, published here as the map of the finding. A QGIS project file would use the same CSV.

Eleven NFHS-5 Phase-II states. Ranked gap, not a national shapefile. Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are the severe cases in this set. A digital-first channel in Bhopal is a different object from the same channel in Chennai.

State CSV Python that builds the gap