Role of direct benefit transfer in curbing of pilferage

The Direct Benefits Transfer Programme has been hastily launched in 20 districts. But there is evidence to prove that transferring purchasing power can have a socially desirable outcome only where there is a strong rural infrastructure and easy access to banks, schools and hospitals ,Aadhaar biometric identity card As India's Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2012-17) comes into force, policymakers are confronted with the challenge of ensuring growth that is sustainable and inclusive. The Indian economy's transition to a higher rate of growth has been seen as a vehicle for reducing poverty and improving living standards for a population of 1.2 billion, especially those belonging to the lowest quartile of the economy. A popular strategy adopted by many countries for reducing poverty is direct cash transfers or progressive redistributive transfers, an idea favoured by current Indian policymakers. Although the proposal for direct cash transfers in lieu of subsidies for kerosene, LPG and fertiliser was first mooted in the finance minister's budget speech for 2011-12, it has only recently received major attention with the launch of the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) Programme. The DBT Programme was launched on January 1, 2013 in 20 districts of 16 states in India. Under the present structure, the programme covers 26 of the 42 schemes run by the government. These include pension schemes, maternity benefits, scholarships and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Implementation of the programme rests on the pillar of the Aadhaar biometric identity card. Electronic transfer of payments to beneficiaries will be leveraged through the Unique Identification Authority of India's (UIDAI) Aadhaar card-enabled bank accounts or post office accounts. The government intends to expand the Direct Benefits Transfer Programme to the entire country by the end of 2013, and convert all government welfare schemes and programmes to Unique Identification Authority-driven cash transfers. Under the 2010 subsidy framework, the government spent $28.6 billion or 2% of its GDP on poverty alleviation programmes like the MGNREGA, food distribution through the public distribution system (PDS) and health insurance coverage for below-poverty-line families through the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) (1). However, widespread corruption has led to " leakages " and under-delivery of government benefits to beneficiaries. It has also increased the fiscal deficit to 5.7% of GDP (2). To add to these woes, a study by the Asian Development Bank found that food subsidies have resulted in an insignificant reduction in the poverty gap for India and, quite surprisingly, 70% of the beneficiaries were non-poor (3). These findings reflect former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's famous comment in the 1980s that only 15 paise of every government rupee handout reaches intended beneficiaries. According to Manmohan Singh, cash-based transfers have the potential to " improve targeting, reduce corruption, eliminate waste, control expenditure and facilitate reforms " (4). But will the DBT Programme plug leakages by side-stepping poor supply-side management and improving targeting of beneficiaries? Or will it only change the modalities of transferring government handouts and reduce government administrative functions without any significant effect on poverty reduction? Reducing corruption and administrative costs Under the Aadhaar-based direct cash transfers, electronic transfer of benefits directly into beneficiaries' bank accounts is expected to reduce bureaucratic red tape. Middlemen are often blamed for rent-seeking and siphoning off parts of the subsidy, leading to enormous waste of financial and physical resources meant for the poor. Therefore, even if the same amount of subsidy is disbursed the programme can be expected to deliver at least a greater share of the subsidy than that which reached targeted recipients earlier. Presently, a recipient has to ascertain his identity and eligibility for each of the different welfare schemes (5). The DBT Programme will allow the beneficiary to receive multiple welfare payments through the single platform-the Aadhaar card-thereby reducing his administrative costs. Also, using the Aadhaar platform will lead to a drop in multiple and 'ghost' beneficiaries (6). This is because the Aadhaar infrastructure can address leakages that arise due to " identification and authentication errors ". If implemented correctly, the programme does have the potential to minimise government expenditure and improve societal welfare. Challenges and the question of feasibility International success stories of cash-based transfers-like Brazil's Bolsa Familia and Mexico's Oportunidades programme-involve targeting and conditions for transfers (7). For instance, in Bolsa Familia, families below a particular income threshold are provided grants on fulfilling certain conditions like attendance at government clinics and 85% school attendance. Similarly, Oportunidades entails family members, especially mothers, to meet various time-bound conditions like involvement in self-care courses for women and voluntary community labour (8). These programmes have been successful because of the presence of a strong social support infrastructure in crucial sectors like healthcare and education. Public services in India, on the other hand, are not mature enough to support cash transfer programmes. For instance, if healthcare schemes are converted to cash transfers, lack of a well-funded public healthcare system that provides access to preventive and curative care, unlike well-funded public healthcare provisions in Brazil, could force the poor to turn to expensive private health services.

Archers & Elevators Publishing House, 2018

Financial inclusion is the key driver of India's vision to achieve faster sustainable and more Inclusive growth (Twelfth five year plan). Hence financial inclusion is one of the policy priorities of the Government of India. The Government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken many initiatives towards ~chieving ~mancial inclusion but the major breakthrough was achieved by implementing world largest financial inclusion drive Pradhan Mantri Jan DhanYojana (PMJDY). The success in recent financial inclusion drive is helping Government to implement many programmes like Direct Benefit Transfer, Digital India project and Cashless India Project has helped to reduce corruption.The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Progress of Financial inclusion in India and to assess the impact of financial inclusion on corruption through Direct Benefit Transfer.The total numbers of beneficiaries under DBT scheme was 63.22 crore during 2017-18.Till 2016-17 Government saved Rs. 57,029 Crore through Direct Benefit Transfer by increasing transparency, efficiency, reducing middlemen and transaction cost.Lack of Financial literacy, strict and fast punishment for corruption and inadequate infrastructure for safe electronic payment is the important challenge before Government. Minimization of corruption, tax evasion, black money is only possible through financial inclusion when people do less cash transaction and start using their bank account for all their financial transaction.

International Journal of Social Science and Business, 2021

Dusun Dalam Village Government established a Village-Owned Enterprise (BUMDes) Karya Dermawan is a policy utilization. The main pillar was established BUMDes Karya Dermawan in accordance with the mandate of the objectives whose activities were oriented to encourage the welfare of the village community. Therefore, this study was conducted aimed at looking at the welfare provided by BUMDes Karya Dermawan Dusun Dalam village especially to the beneficiary community and compare the level of welfare before and after BUMDes Karya Dermawan was established. This study uses a descriptive quantitative approach, and data sourced from primary data by using Paired Sample t-Test as a data analysis tool. This study shows that BUMDes Karya Dermawan provides welfare to the beneficiary communities through businesses that have been established including Cooperatives; Alsintan; and Workshop, which is directly able to change or succeed in providing an increase in welfare for the beneficiary community aft...

The Government of India has launched various schemes for rural development and welfare in areas of employment, education, health, housing such as MNREGA, RSBY, PMGSY, SLBC,

Journal of Social Work and Social development, 2019

The Public Distribution System (PDS) was initiated by the British government to address household food security issues, it is continuing for the last 8 decades even after independence. The government has taken several measures to address the problem of corruption, leakage and delay in distribution. The most recent initiative is the direct cash transfer (DBT) which has been piloted in 3 union territories. This study examines the functioning of cash transfer programme and enquires if it has succeeded in ensuring food security in rural Puducherry.

The Pakistan Development Review

Cash transfer programmes are widely considered a ‘magic bullet’ for reducing poverty. Whether they actually have such an incredible impact on poverty reduction is debatable but they surely are gaining credibility as an effective safety net mechanism and consequently an integral part of inclusive growth strategies in many developing countries. As shown by Ali (2007), inclusive growth rests on three basic premises. First, productive employment opportunities should be created to absorb labour force. Second, capability enhancement and skill development should be focused in order to broaden people’s access to economic opportunities. And lastly, a basic level of well-being has to be guaranteed by providing social protection. Safety nets are at the core of the last pillar, provided mainly through cash transfers, which can be both conditional and unconditional.

TIJ's Research Journal of Commerce & Behavioural Science - RJCBS, 2016

In India the banking industry has grown both horizontally and vertically but the branches penetration in rural areas has not keep pace with the rising demand and the need for accessible financial services. Even , after decades of bank nationalization, whose rationale was to shift the focus from class banking to mass banking , we still find usurious money lending in rural areas and urban slums continuing to exploit the poor. After economic reform of 1991, the country can ill-afford not to include the poor in the growth paradigm.Financial inclusion of the poor will help in bringing them to the mainstream of growth and would be also provide the financial institutions an opportunity to be partners in inclusion growth. By taking this as the background the present study made an attempt to have an insight on “Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana: End financial Untouchability for freedom from poverty”. Key Words : Financial Inclusion , Insurance , Pension

2014

This article provides a review of the arguments for and against cash transfers in India, taking care to distinguish between different types of cash transfer schemes, which include a universal unconditional basic income as well as conditional schemes. The article sets out some principles by which any social policy should be judged and goes on to discuss cash transfers alongside other instruments of social policy, namely the Public Distribution System (PDS) and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). It then examines the principal hypotheses associated with the arguments for and against cash transfers as a social policy instrument, drawing upon international experience. The article concludes that a universal unconditional basic income would have important advantages over alternative schemes, but cautions against undue haste in rolling out cash transfers to ensure a smooth transition.

Abstract: The only mechanism provided in the Constitution for devolution of resources from the Centre to the states is through the Finance Commission under article 275. But the spirit of fiscal federalism in the Constitution was hideously defeated by the creation of Planning Commission and authorizing it to transfer huge amount of central resources to states as plan transfers without any constitutional backing, while limiting the scope of the Finance Commission only to recommend non-plan transfers. The plan transfers which are discretionary in nature are made under article 282 which is meant to deal with exceptional situations; these transfers are also discriminatory, being influenced more by political rather than economic considerations. The role of the Planning Commission as the most important extra-Constitutional allocator of plan resources has long jeopardized Centre-State relations. When the Gadgil formula attempted to limit the arbitrary discretion of the Centre over these plan transfers, it devised another way of exercising this discretion through the mechanism of Centrally Sponsored Schemes, whose numbers have since proliferated on political considerations, creating further aberrations in our public finances. Most of these transfers are made outside the state budgets, so they bypass the budgetary and other controls. More than one lakh crore of rupees are thus transferred every year to states; lying outside their budgets, these funds often lead to wastes and leakages. It is high time this ‘Centralised welfare’ is stopped and the Finance commission be made the sole agency for transfer of resources, plan as well as non-plan.

Juni Khyat, 2023

Both individuals and society have a significant stake in the development of any economy. The individual contributes to the family, the family to the society, and the society to the country. As long as every person does not contribute to the development of the country, that country cannot utilize all its human resources, and it will be unable to extend the benefits of development to those standing in the last line. To address this issue, the Government of India started the Mudra Yojana, which supports non-industrial sectors and individuals with innovative ideas who lack capital to bring their ideas to fruition. India's future dreams of achieving inclusive development cannot be realized if these talents are unable to contribute due to a lack of funding. Mudra Yojana has been introduced to fulfill this objective and is making a significant contribution to the country's development

2012

Shodh Drishti, 2021

Establishment of the new business is very important for any developing country. Basically, for those, who are facing problem of unemployment. In India, there is scarcity of new entrepreneurs. For establishment of a new business, it is important to assist the entrepreneurs as financial assistance because finance is the life blood of any business. This study is based on how Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) is helpful for establishment of new business as well as expansion of the existing business in India. To understand the performance of the scheme data has been collected through various reports of banks and reports of Mudra Yojana presented on official website of the government. Result of the study shows the loan under 'Shishu' category is benefited to the most of the beneficiaries. Although the amount of Tarun and Kishore is higher, So, it is somehow risky also. Under this scheme, various private sector banks and NBFCs are also included. So the private banks would definitely not take more risk. When we see the result as rural area wise and urban area wise the scheme benefited to most the urban population. The scheme is not as much as benefitted to the rural citizens as it was expected.

JKAP (Jurnal Kebijakan dan Administrasi Publik), 2016

The study of this research was an analysis of the public policy implementation concerning on the implementation of the Family Hope Program (PKH) in Pandak, Bantul regency in 2014. The purposes of this study were to investigate: (1) the implementation of the Family Hope Program (PKH), (2) the performance of the Family Hope Program (PKH) and (3) factors that influence the performance of the Family Hope Program (PKH). To investigate the implementation of the Family Hope Program in Pandak, the researcher tried to analyze the processes during its implementation. While to measure the performance of the Family Hope Program in Pandak, the researcher applied policy output indicators approach from Randall B. Ripley. It consists of indicators of access, scope, accountability, be as, promptness of service and suitability of the program needs. The research used a qualitative method by using primary data and secondary data. To collect the data, the researcher used observation, interview and docum...

2020