UPA Govt’s much hyped scheme of direct cash transfer begins in 20 districts

01 Jan 2013 Evaluate

The Congress-led UPA government’s much hyped scheme of direct cash transfer of subsidy to bank accounts of beneficiaries begins in 20 districts, with Finance Minister P Chidambaram describing the move as a 'game-changer'. The scheme aims at providing benefits of several government welfare schemes directly to the beneficiaries' Adhaar-enabled bank accounts to plug leakages and reduce delays in their transfer.

 A total of 26 schemes are to be covered under the direct cash transfer system like educational scholarships, pension for the old and disabled and wages under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. However, food, fertilisers, diesel and kerosene have already been kept out. The government had originally identified 51 districts across 16 states to be covered by the programme under which cash subsidy benefit will directly go to the bank account of beneficiaries with mandatory requirement of Aadhaar number.

 The States to be covered in the initial phase are Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab and UTs of Puducherry, Chandigarh and Daman and Diu. The scheme will be rolled out in 11 more districts from February 1 in states including Kerala, Haryana, Sikkim, Goa, Maharashtra and Jharkhand and 12 more districts in states including Tripura from March 1.

However, the response within the party, Sonia-led NAC and even the government has been a bit critical and also many ministers opposed the scheme, fearing that the hiccups in the scheme could hurt the party in the upcoming general election in 2014. Many also fear that this scheme too could throw up stories similar to MNREGA which has failed to deliver what it has promised. 

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