Low bank a/c seeding may delay DBT rollout in Punjab

Over 3.62 lakh rural households in the state do not have bank accounts

With over 10 per cent of rural households yet to be covered by the banking sector in Punjab, the implementation of the Direct Benefits Transfer scheme (DBT) in all the districts of the state may get delayed. Even in urban areas, about seven per cent of the total household is yet to be covered. Considered as a game-changer, DBT scheme is likely to be implemented across the country by the end of the year.

According to State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) data, the total number of rural households in Punjab is about 35 lakh, of which, over 3.62 lakh households do not have bank accounts. Similarly, in urban areas, of the total of about 21 lakh households, 1.50 lakh households are yet to be covered. It is worth mentioning that with a view to achieve the objective of financial inclusion and to implement DBT, both in urban and rural areas, the Ministry of Finance has advised the banks to ensure opening of one account per family or household.

During the recently held SLBC meet in Chandigarh, the member banks and those having branches in identified districts (where beneficiaries are yet to be covered by banks) were requested to open accounts of the left out families at the earliest, as the scheme of DBT was to be extended in other districts of the state.

DBT was rolled out in three districts of the state, namely, Gurdaspur, SBS Nagar and Fatehgarh Sahib, having over one lakh beneficiaries. Further, the Ministry of Finance on April 1, 2013, informed that the government had decided to extend the DBT scheme to two more districts, namely, Jalandhar and Barnala from July 1, 2013. Both the districts have about 76,000 beneficiaries. Barring 947 beneficiaries in Barnala, all the beneficiaries in other four districts of the state have bank accounts.

However, as far seeding of aadhaar number in accounts of beneficiaries is concerned, the banks are yet to achieve 100 per cent. Only in SBS Nagar 100 per cent seeding of aadhaar numbers in accounts has been achieved, followed by Fatehgarh Sahib (92.4 per cent), Jalandhar (83 per cent), Guradaspur (67.27) and Baranla (43 per cent).

Under the DBT scheme, the entitled monetary benefits under the identified schemes are transferred directly to the bank account of the beneficiaries, which are linked with the Aadhaar number. However at present, since many beneficiaries are still to be provided the Aadhaar card, the benefits are deposited to the bank accounts, even without the Aadhaar number.

Also, during the recently held SLBC meet, it was emphasised that banks should proactively take steps to open a large number of accounts, seed these accounts with Aadhar numbers and view it as a sustainable and scaleable business opportunity.