Racing against time to make the ambitious Direct Benefits Transfer
(DBT) visibly effective before the 2014 general elections, the
government will bring money transaction through post offices under the
DBT ambit. This desperate move is aimed as a remedy to banks opening
accounts of DBT beneficiaries at snail’s pace.
Ahead of the Prime Minister’s review meeting with key ministers, the
government announced that post offices will also be included from
October 1 while three pension schemes — for old age persons, widows and
the disabled — would now be covered under DBT from July 1. The list
would also include districts where the beneficiaries’ biometrics were
collected under the National Population Register (NPR). They include
Odisha, West Bengal, UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.
Several complaints had poured in after the scheme was launched from
January 1 about the problems of the banks to open zero-balance accounts
of the beneficiaries, especially in rural areas.
The government also targets to expand the DBT to cover 78 more
districts in the next phase of the DBT rollout which will begin from
July 1.
To plug the loopholes, PM’s focus will be on digitisation of
databases and opening of more bank accounts. “There will be a thrust on
digitisation of data of beneficiaries in all districts, irrespective of
the rollout of DBT as this is a critical activity which need not wait
and can be done in parallel,” said a press release.
“The department of financial services will be asked to ensure
coverage of all beneficiaries with bank accounts. It will ensure that
all Micro-ATMs that are procured will have specifications such that they
are inter-operable and are Aadhaar enabled,” the release added.
Source:http://www.hindustantimes.com
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