Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram Unveiled Cash Transfer Rollout Plan

The government is going to roll out its ambitious scheme of transferring cash to beneficiaries of select schemes in 20 districts on 1 January 2013, but food, fertiliser and fuel subsidies will not be covered in the initial phase.

As per the roll-out plan, more and more districts and schemes would be covered under the scheme during the course of 2013.

All 26 schemes are ready for rollout. On 1 January 2013 the seven schemes in which payout is due in the (20 selected) districts, the money will be transferred through the direct benefit transfer system using the UIDAI platform.

However, Government clarified that subsidies relating to cooking gas (LPG), kerosene, diesel, food and fertilizers will not be included in the first phase of the roll-out.

The scheme is going to be rolled out in 43 districts by 1 March 2013 — 20 districts from January 1, 11 districts from February 1 and 12 districts from March 1.

By end of 2013, the direct cash benefit transfer will be rolled out in all the districts of the country.The subsidies would be transferred to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts if they do not have an Aadhaar number.