Over Rs 57,000 cr savings through DBT: Govt

The government has saved a whopping Rs 57,000 crore with its Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme under which subsidies are given directly to beneficiaries.
The DBT programme, a major reform initiative to check graft in welfare funds, was launched by the UPA government on January 1, 2013.
It was aimed at transferring benefits of various central government-run social welfare schemes to the bank accounts of beneficiaries.
According to government data, of the Rs 57,029 crore saved under DBT in 2016-17, the LPG subsidy scheme 'Pahal' accounted for Rs 29,769 crore.
Besides, about Rs 14,000 crore were saved in providing subsidies directly to beneficiaries under the Public Distribution System.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, that guarantees 100 days of employment for every rural household, saved Rs 11,741 crore, and Rs 399 crore were saved in DBT transfers for the National Social Assistance Programme, which deals with, among other things, old age and widow pensions, the latest data from the Cabinet Secretariat showed.

DBT led to a saving of about Rs 36,144 crore in 2015- 16.
Till March, 2017, there were 140 schemes under the DBT net. A total of 59 and 34 schemes were under the DBT at the end of 2015-16 and 2014-15 fiscals respectively, the data said.

A total of 485 schemes have been identified from 60 ministries for the DBT.
The beneficiary base rose from 10.71 crore in 2013-14 to 35.62 crore in 2017-18.
DBT, which is a high priority and focus area of the government, functions under the Cabinet Secretariat and its implementation was being directly monitored by the Prime Minister's Office.