DBT portal to launch on August 1

The government’s ambitious direct benefit transfers (DBT) portal, which will be a platform for administrators to access data on Central and states’ welfare schemes and provide real-time feedback and updates on work done, is set to launch on August 1.

The move comes even as the Narendra Modi government is ramping up DBT mission as a whole. About six states, including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, have also opened the DBT cells. In addition, all seven union territories as well as some 70 central government departments have opened up DBT cells as well.

In March, the Cabinet Secretariat had issued a circular which increased the scope and reach of DBT to include all government welfare schemes, which have a subsidy component in them, be it cash or kind. From just directly transferring Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Scheme wages and cooking gas, kerosene and foodgrain subsidies to beneficiaries, the DBT mission has expanded to include old-age pension schemes, the Krishi Vikas Yojana, scholarships, health schemes, sanitation schemes, as well as education schemes.

“The DBT portal will go live from August 1. Initially it will just be used to access data and will add more features and become interactive gradually after that,” said a senior government official.

Since October, the DBT Mission has been under Cabinet Secretariat, from Finance Ministry earlier. As one of the centre’s biggest initiatives, it is constantly monitored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Sinha.

The work on creating the portal is being done by the National Informatics Centre, along with the project’s private partners TCS and E&Y. They are working on bringing together real-time data from various government schemes under one platform.

The official explained the idea behind the portal thus: “Say you have a beneficiary family. You will be able to track the rations it is receiving, the kerosene or LPG subsidies it is entitled to, the health schemes it is covered under, the education benefits and scholarships the children are benefiting from, as well as all other benefits the family is entitled to.”

Identification under all these schemes will be through the Aadhaar database.