Cash subsidy under DBT to go up to Rs 1 lakh crore: ASSOCHAM -Governance Now

Cash subsidy under DBT to go up to Rs 1 lakh crore: ASSOCHAM

Total subsidy paid under DBT in 2016-17 was Rs 74,502 crore

GN Bureau | August 29, 2017

#Aadhaar #DBT #direct benefit transfer #ASSOCHAM

(Illustration: Ashish Asthana)

Aadhaar cards have facilitated payment of as much as Rs 83,184 crore to beneficiaries of the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes, said a study.

An ASSOCHAM–Thought Arbitrage Report Card of three years of the Narendra Modi government said that total subsidy paid under DBT in 2016-17 was Rs 74,502 crore.

The new target is to cover 534 schemes in by March 2018, out of which 300 are cash schemes and more than 200 are in-kind schemes. Hence, cash subsidy paid under DBT is expected to increase to Rs 1 lakh crore subsequently.

“Real benefit of Jan Dhan and Aadhaar is finally reflected in the number of beneficiaries of government DBT schemes. The amount of funds transferred under DBT schemes between January 1, 2013 and March 31, 2017 is Rs 83,183.79 crore, but the real achievement lies not in the amount disbursed, rather in the fact that these amounts were disbursed with minimum leakages or malpractices and that is important in terms of good governance,” the study said.

DBT schemes have resulted into weeding out 3.34 crore duplicate consumers under PAHAL and a further 2.33 crore ration cards being deleted, bringing transparency in governance. Total savings under DBT has been Rs 49,500 crore till December 2016. DBT savings have been highest under the PAHAL scheme, amounting to Rs 26,408 crore till December 2016.

The ASSOCHAM report card said the ‘Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)’ is the back bone of financial inclusion, and the first step of creating bank accounts for hitherto uncovered population has been done quite efficiently within a short span of time

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