The Direct Cash Transfer Scheme aims to help millions of students and the elderly and women social workers in villages will receive their monthly honoraria in time. The scheme is expected to cut down leakages and corruption in the implementation of various social sector schemes.
It rolls out in 51 districts in 14 states of the country on Jan 1, 2013.
It will cover all the 640 districts by 2013 end
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked nine ministries to immediately operationalise the scheme.
Bank accounts of beneficiaries are to be linked to Aadhaar numbers of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
The government has identified 42 welfare schemes under various ministries to be brought in under the scheme.
It will begin with scholarships, old age pensions and anganwadi worker honoraria.
Food, fertiliser and cooking gas cylinder subsidies would be taken up later.
Beneficiaries who can’t travel to a bank would get the facility at their doorsteps through an expanded network of banking correspondents.
