Government to organise camps in schools, colleges & panchayats to enroll
beneficiaries under direct cash transfer scheme
The government will set up camps in educational
institutions and villages to speed
up enrollment of beneficiaries under
direct cash transfer
scheme, a finance ministry official said.
Direct cash transfer, a method the government hopes
will plug leakages and cut delays in transfer of subsidies to the poor, is to
be rolled out in 51 districts in 15 states from January 1.
Enrollment camps will be set up in schools and
colleges for cash transfers under scholarship schemes, and in villages and bank
branch service areas for all other schemes.
"Concerns have been raised on how we will be
able to enroll beneficiaries. This camp-based approach will help us reach out
to every nook and corner of the country," the official said. Earlier in
the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had denied that the government
was implementing the cash transfer system in a hurry, saying measures were
being implemented step by step to eliminate leakages, delays, and
falsification.
"The scheme was not devised in a hurry. It
will not be implemented in a hurry. Our watchword for the scheme is 'we will
not hasten, will implement it slowly, step by step'" Chidambaram said in
the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
The camps, which will function for three
consecutive days, will help beneficiaries open a bank or Postal Account and
also apply for an Aadhaar number—a unique identification number being issued to
all resident Indians. These camps will have representatives from the district
administration, the leading bank in the region, and the postal
department.
All departments concerned will coordinate with the
district magistrates for the smooth functioning of these camps, the official
said. Once data is captured in the system, it will be transmitted to the
district office of the department concerned.
Collated data will be shared between government
departments, banks and Post Offices for cross-verification.
"This will be a massive exercise that will be
carried out over the next two three weeks, being undertaken under the
supervision of district-level co-ordination committee," the official
said.
The official said the process will help cross-check
data on beneficiaries and help avoid duplication. The government has already
begun the process for implementing direct transfer of cash subsidy on PDS
kerosene in 11 states and Union Territories.
The department of food and public distribution
proposes to implement the scheme for beneficiaries of the Targeted Public
Distribution System in six Union Territories on a pilot basis.
Source : The Times of India
