Union Budget 2013: Banking on cash transfer, but rollout in doubt

NEW DELHI: No one could object to “aapka paisa, aapke haath,” finance minister P Chidambaram said, confident that the UPA’s ‘direct benefit transfer’ programme — to put money for scholarships and subsidies directly into bank accounts — will be rolled out countrywide during the UPA’s current term.
But what he did not say can tell a tale. As he admitted, the government made a cautious start in January and has covered 11 lakh beneficiaries since.Many of these relate to scholarships or pensions where beneficiaries already have bank accounts.
Even if DBT is “technically” implemented across the country by election time next year, it is likely to be a patchy affair restricted to just a few benefits because of teething problems like inclusion in terms of bank accounts. The rollout has been accorded top priority but the PMO’s review meetings have forced a scale-back as the scheme ran into several hurdles due to incomplete data and lack of digitization. DBT faces a tough test in states like Delhi that have made it a poll mantra and go to the hustings in a few months.
Union Budget 2013
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