A lot of work may lie ahead to get the direct beneficiary transfer scheme going in its entirety, but it’s something must be undertaken in 2013 with all the manpower and technical resources available so that the process gets streamlined and benefits reach end users in full. Teething problems have been aplenty, particularly in Andhra, where the scheme couldn’t take off on schedule as banks with Aadhar-linked accounts weren’t brought into the loop early enough. Other problems too cropped up as the number of beneficiaries is huge.
The scheme may have been driven by the Congress’ commitment to reach out to a vast number who are beneficiaries of a total government subsidy bill close to `1,64,000 crores, but the issue goes far beyond narrow politics. While the cost of subsidies is very high in a country like ours, where so many are wholly dependent on the government for basic requirements of life, the price of leakage created by middlemen or corrupt low-level bureaucrats is far too high for our society to bear.
The non-working poor will benefit the most. Society has to deal with the burden of a negative effect on social capital as resentment among those who are not beneficiaries sets in. But that’s no reason to end the support that benevolent societies must offer the poor and disadvantaged. To curb leakages is the key thrust of the scheme, which shouldn’t be lost sight of particularly due to the logistical problems involved in getting it off the ground.