Govt hopeful on cash scheme

Residents of Kotkasim in Alwar are disgruntled since their trips to banks have been a waste of time with beneficiaries not receiving the kerosene subsidy at all. The direct transfer of kerosene subsidies, they discovered belatedly, is not part of the Aadhaar platform. HT reports.

Residents of Kotkasim in Alwar are disgruntled since their trips to banks have been a waste of time with beneficiaries not receiving the kerosene subsidy at all. The direct transfer of kerosene subsidies, they discovered belatedly, is not part of the Aadhaar platform.

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Such discrepancies discovered in the pilot cash transfer scheme in Rajasthan’s Alwar district will be addressed when the scheme rolls out nationally on the Aadhar platform, said Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh.

“Some of the problems faced in this pilot could be minimised by the proposed Aadhaar-based direct cash transfer initiative. The Kotkasim pilot is not a reflection of the direct cash transfer initiative announced. The direct cash transfer initiative addresses the problems that Kotkasim has faced," Ramesh clarified.

In the proposed cash transfer scheme, the subsidy can be transferred to the beneficiary bank account automatically based on electronic data of kerosene consumption which will get registered biometrically.

Deployment of micro-ATMs and business correspondents would bring the bank to the doorstep of the users. “Rapid deployment of this is possible as there is no need for distribution of any tokens like smart cards, pin, password etc. All that the beneficiary needs to authenticate is his iris, fingerprint or phone,” Ramesh said.