DBT subsidy scheme to be extended to 78 more districts

The government's ambitious Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) subsidy programme is set to be extended to 78 more districts by July one to make it 121 districts, covering one-fifth of the country.
Three pension schemes for old age persons, widows and the disabled would now be covered under the scheme from July.
A final decision on this is to be taken tomorrow when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reviews the progress of the programme launched on January one this year, providing for transfer of subsidy in cash directly to the beneficiaries through banks.
The DBT covered 43 districts and 26 schemes when it was rolled out and the entire country is to be brought under it in phased manner.

"The Prime Minister is holding a meeting of the National Committee on DBT to review the rollout of the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) system so far and the approaches and strategies being adopted for expansion into new districts and schemes," an official statement said here today.
With the extension of the scheme to 78 more districts, altogether 121 districts will be covered by it, making one-fifth of the country.
It said the DBT system is falling into place. "While there were teething troubles initially, Ministries have become familiar with the concept and the processes involved. There is a large process re-engineering exercise that is going on within Ministries and Departments to facilitate this switch to DBT," the statement said.

The meeting tomorrow will review progress on the digitisation of databases, the opening of bank accounts, the enrolment in Aadhaar and the seeding of databases with Aadhaar numbers.