President Mukherjee: Govt to bring more welfare schemes under e-payment mode

He said the government gives DBT mode of payment importance, where as, direct transfer to beneficiary accounts ensure transparency

Asserting that the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme ensures efficiency, President Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday expressed hope that the government will include more welfare schemes in the e-payment mode in future.

"The government places the highest importance towards the DBT mode of payments as the preferred mode for reaching out to the financially disadvantaged and excluded segments of our population," Mukherjee, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Indian Civil Accounts Service, said.

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"This mode of direct transfer of funds to beneficiary bank accounts ensures transparency, eliminates delays and brings about a perceptible drop in corruption levels. I am confident that the government will on-board more welfare schemes on the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) portal in future," he added.

Currently, subsidy related to LPG, scholarship payment and the like are being paid directly to accounts of beneficiaries.

There is need to harness and leverage e-governance capabilities for improving lives of the poor and the needy and to transform India into a more equitable and financially inclusive society, he said.

Emphasising that India is the third-largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), he said the size, scale and complexity of the economy is increasing with every passing day, as is its integration with the world economy.

"These fast-paced developments pose policy and administrative challenges on many fronts, including the capability and capacity of our financial management and accounting systems to respond to the myriad needs of various stakeholders in the economy," he said.

In that context, the President said, the foremost challenge for the office of the Controller General of Accounts is timely and credible financial reporting of public finances, which is the backbone of an efficient and sound financial management system.