Direct benefit scheme to be rolled out in phases

New Delhi: Government is launching the direct benefit transfer scheme in a phased manner across districts of the country, Minister of State for Planning Rajeev Shukla said today.

“Yes, in a phase-wise manner. Phase-I was initiated from January 1, 2013 in 43 districts and Phase-II is to be launched from July 1, 2013 in 78 districts,” Shukla said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today.

He was replying to a question whether government is planning to extend to the scheme throughout the country. Shukla said the DBT roll out depends on the preparedness of the district with regards to sufficient Aadhaar generation and financial inclusion.

[caption id=“attachment_727933” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] It does not entail subsidies for food, fertiliser and kerosene at present. Reuters[/caption]

The DBT works by way of digitisation of database of beneficiaries, their Aadhaar enrollment and opening of bank accounts and sending bank accounts and beneficiaries’ database with Aadhaar numbers, he said. The Finance Ministry has recently asked the PSU banks to put in place robust automated systems to ensure that the beneficiaries list does not undergo any changes for the second phase of the DBT to be launched in July.

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Presently, DBT scheme take into ambit benefits like scholarships, pensions, MNERGA wages directly to the bank or Post Office accounts of identified beneficiaries. It does not entail subsidies for food, fertiliser and kerosene at present. This will take more time as the issues of entitlement are more complex, according to an official statement.

PTI