Prashant : New Delhi, Tue May 28 2013, 01:14 hrs
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday sought Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman Nandan Nilekani's intervention in overcoming obstacles in opening accounts in banks, which the government maintained, had not rendered active cooperation. Dikshit said she also plans to write a letter to the Union Finance Minister in this regard shortly.
Following a meeting with Nilekani, Dikshit said the government was keen on increasing the number of beneficiaries under the Aadhaar-based direct cash transfers. "We hope to increase intended beneficiaries in Delhi to at least 30 lakh but there are still obstacles in opening bank accounts. This results in difficulties for beneficiaries," Dikshit said.
The Delhi government hopes to include more beneficiaries under Delhi Annashri Yojana and Delhi Kerosene-Free Scheme. "Along with this, we also hope to include eligible citizens under building construction workers welfare fund, school children, pensioners, widows and handicapped categories in the ambit of the Aadhaar Based Direct Cash Transfer," Dikshit said.
Senior officials in the Revenue department said the government would also facilitate the installation of small ATM machines in 140 Gender Resource Centres (GRC), 11 offices of deputy commissioners of Revenue and certain circle offices of the Food and Supplies department.
"In order to help beneficiaries withdraw their benefit amount easily, employees working at these offices would be given the status of bank correspondents," a government official said.