MNREGA payments directly to beneficiaries

Banking correspondents equipped with Aadhaar-enabled micro ATMs will visit the doorsteps of MNREGA wage earners to distribute their payments

PTI | August 3, 2012



Workers under the MNREGA across the country would soon get their payments directly, a step taken by the Government to weed out corruption in the ambitious rural job guarantee scheme.

"It will check bogus identity. It will reduce delayed payments. It will bring payments to the beneficiary rather than the beneficiary coming to the payments," Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh told reporters in the national capital on Wednesday.

"Rural Development Ministry along with Finance Ministry and UIDAI have decided to seed in the Aadhaar numbers of MNREGA workers in NREGASoft and to achieve complete 'e-Disbursement' for MNREGA workers in 46 districts," he said.

Banking correspondents equipped with Aadhaar-enabled micro ATMs will visit the doorsteps of MNREGA wage earners to distribute their payments.

It will be implemented initially in selected 46 districts and then extended to all other districts in two years time.

"Within two years time Rs 50000 crores of individual beneficiary transfers from the Ministry of Rural Development must flow through the Aadhaar linked bank accounts," he said.

Ramesh also said that his Ministry will approach the Finance Ministry with a proposal to provide some subsidies to banks for the micro ATMs.

Out of its Rs 99000 crore annual budget, the Ministry's Rs 50000 crores goes to individual beneficiaries in the form of MNREGA wages and social security pensions.

At least 100000 network of banking correspondents, equipped with Aadhaar enabled micro ATMs, would be required for implementing the programme across the country, Ramesh said.

The banking correspondents have to be appointed by the banks and the Rural Development Ministry has offered Rs 80 per MNREGA bank account per year to banks for their appointment.

The decision to implement the programme was taken at a meeting attended by Ramesh, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman Nandan Nilekani and top Finance Ministry officials here yesterday.

The Aadhaar Platform is also to be used for distributing payments to the Rural Development Ministry beneficiaries of various social security programmes such as widow, old age and disabled pensions.

Comments

 

Other News

India faces critical shortage of skin donors amid rising burn cases

India reports nearly 70 lakh burn injury cases every year, resulting in approximately 1.4 lakh deaths annually. Experts estimate that up to 50% of these lives could be saved with adequate access to skin donations.   A significant concern is that around 70% of burn victims fall wi

Not just politics, let`s discuss policies too

Why public policy matters Most days, India`s loudest debates stop at the ballot box. We can name every major leader and recall every campaign slogan. Still, far fewer of us can explain why a widow`s pension is delayed or how a government school`s budget is actually approved. That

When algorithms decide and children die

The images have not left me, of dead and wounded children being carried in the arms of the medics and relatives to the ambulances and hospitals. On February 28, at the start of Operation Epic Fury, cruise missiles struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh school – officially named a girls’ school, in Minab,

The economics of representation: Why women in power matter

India’s democracy has grown in scale, but not quite in balance. Women today are active participants in elections, influencing outcomes in ways that were not as visible earlier. Yet their presence in legislative institutions continues to lag behind. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was meant to addres

India will be powerful, not aggressive: Bhaiyyaji

India is poised to emerge as a global power but will remain rooted in its civilisational ethos of non-aggression and harmony, former RSS General Secretary Suresh `Bhaiyyaji` Joshi has said.   He was speaking at the launch of “Rashtrabhav,” a book by Ravindra Sathe

AI: Code, Control, Conquer

India today stands at a critical juncture in the area of artificial intelligence. While the country is among the fastest adopters of AI in the world, it remains heavily reliant on technologies developed elsewhere. This paradox, experts warn, cannot persist if India seeks technological sovereignty.


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter