The nature and design of India's welfare state is undergoing a shift under the National Democratic Alliance government. The new government, in its central budget presented earlier this year, cut back funding for welfare schemes. The states have a larger share from the tax pool and are now expected to use their own funds to maintain welfare at current levels, and the central government has no say on allocation. While this grants more autonomy to the states, there are concerns that maintaining welfare schemes at current levels might prove difficult for state governments that now need to make changes in their budgets. Poorer states that rely more on central funding for welfare payments may also find it challenging to maintain allocations.At the same time, the center is embarking on new welfare programs. Perhaps the most ambitious and with the most political capital riding on it, is the prime minister's Jan Dhan Yojana initiative, that aims to bring access to financial services to all households.In January 2015, 115 million accounts were opened under the scheme, mobilizing INR 91.8 billion ($1.4 billion), the number of new accounts in the short time frame setting a Guinness record.In May this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched one pension and two insurance schemes, with the goal to create a uniform social security system for all Indians.The hope is that with financial services, mobile phones and unique identification numbers in place for all Indians, it will be easy to make direct welfare payments to the poor.SECC data shows that 71% of the rural India population owns a mobile phone. That, at least, is some reason to cheer.