Sep 20, 2014 - Mukesh Ranjan |
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi telling the Central and state agencies to increase Aadhaar-based Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) penetration from current 35 to 60 per cent in 300 Aadhaar-enabled district to 80 per cent within this financial year, the Planning Commission has convened a meeting of chief secretaries and UID nodal officers of the states and UTs on September 23 and 30 to work out plans to go head in implementing the scheme.
Sources said, during the last review meeting, which was chaired by the Prime Minister, it was identified that once Aadhaar penetration reaches to the level of 80 per cent in identified 300 districts, at least five subsidies and dole outs like pension, scholarship, LPG, PDS and NREGA could be brought under DBT scheme.
“Incidentally, two out of five, PDS and NREGA are the new schemes to be brought under DBT,” they added.
It was UPA government, which started the Aadhaar-linked DBT schemes and had brought under its ambit three subsidies and dole outs, which included LPG, Pension and scholarship. It, however, had excluded LPG subsidy through DBT schemes in the last leg of its tenure.
The government gives three kinds of scholarship to students belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and minorities.