In a move to cut down wastage,
duplication and leakages and enhance efficiency, the Prime Minister has given a
major push to transfer individual
benefits from the Government directly into the bank accounts of
beneficiaries. This is to be done in a fast-track,
accelerated mode to be achieved in a time bound manner. The idea is to move
to a completely electronic Cash Transfer System for the entire population.
In order to accelerate the process,
which currently is being tried in pilots on a small scale and whose results are
very encouraging, the Prime Minister has
set up the architecture for moving to electronic Cash Transfers leveraging
Aadhaar.
1. Architecture
for Cash Transfers
In order to speed up activity and
ensure that the shift to electronic Cash Transfers can be rolled out rapidly,
the Prime Minister has set up the Architecture
for Cash Transfers which will be the coordination
mechanism. This architecture will consist of:
i. National Ministerial Committee -
under the Prime Minister with membership of all concerned ministers
(Finance, IT, Social Justice, HRD, Minorities, Labour, Health, Food, P&NG,
Fertilizers, Planning Commission, UIDAI,). This committee at the highest level
would ensure coordination and decision-making at the highest level and impart
the necessary urgency to the program.
ii. National Executive Committee -
with the Secretaries of all concerned Ministries as members. This committee
would meet frequently to coordinate action, ensure adherence to time lines and
sort out hitches in the program as it is rolled out.
iii. Implementation Mission and Committees
- to work on and finalise all operational and
implementation details relating to the design and operation of the transfer
system. There is a lot work needed to have a smooth roll-out and has to be done
in a Mission mode with multiple agencies acting in a coordinated manner. The Mission will have the following
sub-committees:
a. Cash Transfer Mission
- Technology Committee -to focus on the technology, architecture and IT issues.
b. Cash Transfer Mission
- Financial Inclusion Committee - to focus on ensuring Universal Access to
Banking and achieving complete Financial Inclusion.
c. Cash
Transfer Mission - Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Committees - to work
out the details relating to EBT such as data bases, transfer rules, controls,
audits, etc. There would be one for each Ministry which is engaging in benefit
transfers.
The milestones and timeliness for
each of these Committees will be clearly laid down. The National Executive Committee will monitor
progress and ensure timely roll-out.
This scheme will have a momentous impact on the government's various
social programmes and help million of beneficiaries.
2. Background
to Aadhaar:
With
the rapid rollout of Aadhaar, now covering
20 crore people and rapidly growing to 60 crores,
and with the National Population Register covering the other half, it is
possible to move to a system of transferring cash benefits directly to the
poor.
A Cash Transfer System can be used
for transferring cash benefits such
as NREGA Wages, Scholarships, Pensions,
Income support of other types and Health
Benefits. Electronic Transfer of Benefits (ETB) is a simple change as the
transfers are already taking place and the only modification that would be
involved is a movement from a paper based, cash driven system to an electronic direct transfer system.
Cash Transfer System would improve targeting, reduce corruption,
eliminate waste, control expenditure and facilitate reforms.
3. Pilots
The results of pilots are encouraging.
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) has already begun in many cases. The
Government and RBI have issued Guidelines to Banks for implementation of EBT.
Pilots are under implementation, including in AP, Chhattisgarh, Punjab,
Rajasthan, TN, WB, Karnataka, Puducherry and
Sikkim.
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SC/SKS