Cash Transfer: Hype or Reality
By Dr Arvind Kumar
The UPA-II government has proposed to roll out the direct cash transfer (DCT) scheme meant for providing subsidy and other welfare schemes to the desired beneficiaries by transferring money to their Aadhaar-enabled bank accounts from 1 January 2013. The DCT scheme has been introduced to prevent leakages and corruption in implementation of social welfare related schemes. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has hailed it as a ‘revolutionary’ measure and the UPA finance minister has welcomed it as ‘pure magic.’ However, the claims of the government have been already been questioned both by people who never got the promised cash and, activists who point out to the high risks involved in such a fundamental shift.
Some state leaders have voiced their concerns about the scheme. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday strongly opposed the Centre’s cash transfer scheme, saying the poor will not get the money as there is no mechanism to implement it. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has said financial inclusion and availability of information technology infrastructure are preconditions to cash transfer and there are substantial problems in the state on both accounts. “It would also be difficult to fix the monthly cash subsidies in view of fluctuation in market prices.” According to one social activist, “ bio-metrics is both changing and undependable; banking correspondent system will be the new cause of corruption and it is only about reducing cost to the State, people be damned’. No doubt, the Centre has embarked on an ambitious journey; nevertheless, the danger lies in setting unrealistic deadlines driven by expediency and tarnishing an important reform in the process.
