IAS 2013 Mains Expected Questions
ESSAY
The Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme is significant
since it has taken up the challenge of defining a new social security structure
which is bold in its vision, sincere in its intentions and has strong
transformative potential
The Government of India has announced the Direct Benefits
Transfer initiative with the aim of ensuring better and more timely delivery of
benefits to the people.This marks a paradigm shift,where the State is explicitly
taking responsibility to ensure that welfare schemes and basic entitlements
reach the intended beneficiaries much more effectively than at present.
Similar schemes in various forms have been implemented in a
number of countries in the world. We have had programmes like Bolsa Familia in
Brazil, Oportunidades in Mexico, Samrudhi Kosh in Sri Lanka.
What will DBT do?
The DBT programme aims that entitlements and benefits to
people can be transferred directly to them through biometric-based Aadhaar
linked bank accounts, thus reducing several layers of intermediaries and delays
in the system. The last mile of the initiative is the most important — the
system will allow actual disbursements to take place at the doorstep of the
beneficiaries through a dense, interoperable network of business correspondents
(BCs) using biometric micro ATM machines
Why is DBT a paradigm shift?
There are several dimensions to this. First, the link to
Aadhaar and the use of biometrics ensures that the problems of “duplicates,”
i.e., the same person getting the benefit more than once, and “ghosts,” i.e., a
non-existent person getting the benefit, are addressed.
Second, it makes it possible for money to reach the intended
beneficiaries directly and on time — so, for example, pensions, which reach the
beneficiary once every four to six months in many parts of India, can now reach
her bank account on the first of every month.
Third, a dense BC network on the ground with micro ATMs will
allow payments to happen at peoples’ doorsteps, ensuring that the poor get the
same level of service that the rich and middle-class in India get.
Fourth, as it is a platform based on an open architecture,
State governments can use this platform as much as the Central government.
Fifth, the potential benefit to internal migrants who send
remittances to their homes is huge. It is estimated that Rs.75,000 crore worth
of within-country remittances are made in India every year — many of these are
lifelines for their families.
Direct Benefits Transfer - schemes
Post-matric scholarship for SC students
Pre-matric scholarship for SC students
Post-matric scholarship for OBC students
Indira Gandhi Matrutva Sahayata Yojana
Dhanalakshmi scheme
Indeed there are questions that are yet to be answered. Would
it be right to include the Public Distribution System (PDS) in the ambit of DBT?
What about fertiliser and Petroleum subsidies? Does it have
to be linked to inflation indexing to keep the benefits undiminished for the
poor as prices of commodities rise? Should we adopt a Universal Cash Transfer
model or a Conditional Cash Transfer one? What would be the distributional
impact of this scheme within a family? What would be the impact of these
transfers on inequality in society? There are no easy answers to these questions
but there are some indicators which can throw light on it. In Latin America, the
Conditional Cash Transfers had significant impact on improving social indicators
like enrolment of students in school and immunization percentage of children. In
Brazil, the implementation of Cash Transfer Scheme has resulted in significant
reduction in inequality. But blind copying of the example of another country may
be counter productive. Each country has to devise its own programmes keeping in
mind its specific realities and requirements. This explains the cautious start
for this programme in India.
The task ahead is mammoth and daunting. The success of the
Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) depends crucially on the expansion of the banking
network in the country. To tide over this problem, the scheme envisages the
Banking Correspondent model, use of micro ATMs or utilisation of the Common
Service Centres. Quick coverage of the entire population under the UID project
or registration under the National Population Register (NPR) could prove to be
decisive factors in the outcome of this initiative.
What are the criticisms?
