- Deputy CM raises doubts about feasibility of implementing scheme
PIYUSH KUMAR TRIPATHI
On a rough pitch
The fate of the UPA government’s much-vaunted direct cash transfer (DCT) scheme is under a cloud in Bihar.
In a tête-à-tête with The Telegraph sometime earlier, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said the scheme would not roll out in the state within the stipulated time. He didn’t stop there: Modi went a step ahead to state that its implementation itself wasn’t feasible.
“The ongoing process of biometric registration of around 10 crore residents in Bihar under the National Population Register (NPR) for issuance of Aadhaar numbers can take two to three years for entire coverage of the state. Even if the targeted 10 crore people are registered under NPR and an Aadhaar number is allotted to them, then also the reach of banks in the rural areas is not sufficient to open accounts of all the beneficiaries,” Modi said.
Union finance minister P. Chidambaram, in his budget speech, pledged to the nation that the DCT scheme would be rolled out throughout the country during the term of the UPA government. The next general elections are due in the first half of 2014.
Challenging the feasibility of the scheme in Bihar, Modi said: “Even if we consider a situation wherein all residents registered under NPR for Aadhaar number have bank accounts, then also the beneficiaries should be able to operate and withdraw money. The UPA government claims that this would be addressed through the business correspondent model of banking. However, I must inform here that many banks are expressing difficulties in working on this model in Bihar due to lack of accessibility and inability to set up branches at remote places owing to numerous local issues.”
A business correspondent is a person authorised by banks to open no-frills accounts — which do not require the holder to maintain a minimum balance — by visiting villages. He is also supposed to accept deposits of limited value from account holders and make payments against cheques or withdrawal forms to account holders, that too of a limited amount.
The presence of business correspondents would increase the penetration of banking services in rural areas.
Modi said that it was owing to such complexities in the banking-based schemes that the Bihar government had come up with the idea to set up camps in rural areas and directly hand over cash to the beneficiaries. “Such a system is already in place for implementation of schemes, including those for cycle and school uniform, among others,” he said.
The deputy chief minister said he wasn’t against the idea of an Aadhaar-based DCT scheme, but pointed out that it was time-taking and has limited reach in states like Bihar. “Thus, the UPA would not be able to make any electoral gains from this scheme in the upcoming general elections,” he added.
The Aadhaar-based DCT scheme is aimed at making direct transfer of cash to bank accounts of beneficiaries, bypassing middlemen and other bottlenecks.
People in Bihar would get the Aadhaar number — a 12-digit individual identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India — by getting registered in the NPR. The biometric registration phase for NPR was launched in Bihar on February 20.
The biometric registration is being done by the directorate of census operations, Bihar, in association with the state government. The first phase of registration comprises urban areas in 13 districts — Patna, Arwal, Nalanda, Gopalganj, Rohtas, Vaishali, Sheohar, West Champaran, Darbhanga, Saharsa, Kishanganj, Katihar and Sheikhpura.
“The first phase has to be covered within three months and we have set the target to cover the entire state by December. However, the progress till date has not been satisfactory due to various reasons. It seems doubtful that a complete rollout of NPR would be possible by the end of this year,” said a senior official of the directorate.
The NPR project comprises three steps: collection of demographic data, collection of biometric data and issue of Aadhaar numbers.
The first stage of collection of biometric data started in Bihar with the process of house-listing and enrolment for NPR carried out between May 15 and June 28, 2010. Those enrolled were issued an acknowledgement slip for NPR, which is to be shown by the residents when going for biometric registration.
