Union Budget 2013: Cash me if you can, it’s not direct to home yet

NEW DELHI: No one could object to “aapka paisa, aapke haath,” finance minister P Chidambaram said, confident that the ‘direct benefit transfer’ programme — to put money for scholarships and subsidies directly into bank accounts — will be rolled out countrywide in UPA’s current term.
But what he did not say can tell a tale. Government has barely covered 11 lakh beneficiaries so far and many of these relate to scholarships or pensions where beneficiaries already have bank accounts.
Even if DBT is “technically” implemented nationwide by election time in 2014, it is likely to be restricted to 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 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 elections in a few months.
Budget 2013> Union Budget 2013> Economic Survey