Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said the
direct cash transfer to the targeted sections of people "will be a simple and error-free" arrangement with the utilisation of technology.
Addressing officials of Puducherry government and various banks at a meeting organised by state level Bankers Committee, Chidambaram said "with the availability of banking technology, the scheme is not a complex arrangement but an easy programme."
"Banking technology is a black box technology and
there was absolutely no room for mistakes, corruption or human interference in the operation of the scheme", he said.
The Centre was releasing as much as Rs 2,00,000 crore as subsidies under various schemes for the targeted sections across the country. The intention of the government was to ensure that the
Direct Cash Transfer Scheme was implemented by the end of 2013 in the country as a whole.
He asked bankers and officials to ensure that there was inclusion of beneficiaries in the scheme to provide them advantages of the 15 centrally sponsored schemes implemented in Puducherry.
Chidambaram said he was confident that the Direct Cash Transfer to beneficiaries linking Aadhar-linked bank accounts would go on stream successfully on January 1 in Puducherry.
He also
reviewed preparations made by the banks and government departments as part of rolling out the scheme in the union territory, comprising Puducherry, Mahe and Yanam regions.
Racing to roll out the scheme, the Centre has already asked authorities of 43 identified districts to ensure that all intended beneficiaries have Aadhaar number before the
launch of the programme on January 1 as it will be mandatory for transfer of benefits.
The Planning Commission has issued a circular to the Collectors of these districts spread over 16 states and Union territories, spelling out the measures to be taken.
"As a first step, you will need to ensure that all the intended beneficiaries have or get an Aadhaar number before commencement" of the programme, the circular said.
The Planning Commission outlined certain actions that need to be completed before commencing the rollout. These include digitisation of beneficiary data base and seeding of Aadhaar with beneficiary database.
Wherever beneficiaries do not have Aadhaar number, they will have to be enrolled for Aadhaar by the UIDAI Registrar and wherever beneficiaries have bank accounts, it will need to be linked with Aadhaar number.
If beneficiaries do not have bank accounts, they will have to be opened, for which Aadhaar may be used as KYC (know your client), by the Lead Bank/Bank Branch. The new bank account will then be seeded with Aadhaar.
A campaign is to be initiated to inform the beneficiaries of the programme and to encourage enrolment in Aadhaar and opening bank account.
Robust but easy to access grievance redressal systems would also have to be put in place to mitigate unforeseen hardships, system failures among others and to ensure there is no denial of service to beneficiaries without Aadhaar or bank accounts.
Under the programme, 34 schemes would be covered in the first phase.
With inputs from PTI
Finance Minister P Chidambaram 
Special 
