13 central schemes under DBT for direct cash transfer: Minister

Says benefits have begun to be credited into the account of the beneficiary under the DBT scheme

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As many as 13 centrally sponsored schemes have been identified under direct benefit transfer (DBT), subject to cash transfer directly into the account of beneficiaries, Parliament was informed today.

"13 Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) have been identified under DBT, which are subjected to cash transfers through Aadhaar-enabled bank accounts in 121 districts," Minister of State for Planning Rajeev Shukla said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha today.

He said the benefits have begun to be credited into the account of the beneficiary under the DBT scheme, which started in a phased manner.

In the first phase, 43 districts were selected in January, 2013 and another 78 districts have been added in July, he said.

Asked whether there is any monitoring system for these transfers, he said Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB) has been created by National Payment Corporation of India for monitoring the scheme-wise and district-wise payments, which would be transferred into the Aadhaar enabled bank accounts of beneficiaries.

Further, he said the Central Plan Scheme Monitoring System, controlled by CGA, monitors payment advice which includes scheme-wise, state/district-wise APB and non-APB transactions.

In reply to a separate question on Aadhaar number, Shukla said a total of 39.36 Aadhaar numbers have been generated as on July 31, 2013 against a total population of 121 crore (as of 2011 census).

Shukla said generation of Aadhaar number is an ongoing process and currently there is no target date for completion of these activities.

On an average, 10 lakh persons are enrolled every day for Aadhaar number through 25,000 enrollment stations in 4,500 locations, the minister added.