What is the issue?
- State governments perform well in their DBT schemes when compared with union government’s schemes.
- Bhamashah scheme of Rajasthan government proves this scenario.
What are the concerns in union government schemes?
- The DBT deficits of the Union Government have increased, as the states have become spendthrift.
- There is also the burden of 40%-50% leakage of funds in the central government schemes.
- Not many states are doing well in terms of linking payments to Aadhaar numbers of citizens.
- The only exception is Rajasthan, whose Bhamashah scheme has done better than the union DBT.
What is Bhamashah scheme about?
- The objective of the scheme is financial inclusion, women empowerment and effective service delivery.
- It is the first family based Direct Benefit Transfer scheme of India where each family is issued a ‘Bhamashah Card’.
- The Card is linked to a bank account that is in the name of lady of the house who is the head of the family.
- The card leverages bio-metric identification and core banking.
- Multiple cash benefits would be accessed through the Bhamashah Card and will be directly transferred to bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
- Over three years, DBT transactions over the Bhamashah platform have crossed Rs 10,000 crore for purposes like pension payments, insurance, scholarships, housing, etc.
Source: Financial Express
