New Delhi, July 2 (The Telegraph): The Centre is thinking of rolling out food and kerosene subsidies through the Direct Benefit Transfer system before the year ends, encouraged by the "successful" experiment with LPG where the subsidy is deposited in bank accounts of consumers.
At a discussion today on DBT and basic income transfers, Peeyush Kumar, a joint secretary handling the scheme, said it was feasible to shift to direct transfer mode for subsidies on both kerosene and food.
The database of beneficiaries of both schemes - public distribution (PDS) and kerosene - is the same.
The discussion was organised by the International Centre for Human Development, a collaboration between the UNDP, the Indian government and the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies.
Kumar cited the example of Krishnanagar district in Andhra Pradesh where food subsidy delivery through DBT has been started. Under DBT, the Aadhaar number of the beneficiary will be seeded - electronically converged - with his PDS database.
Kumar said around 15 per cent of PDS beneficiaries had got their Aadhaar number seeded in the PDS database. "By September, we are trying to have Aadhaar linkage for all PDS beneficiaries," he said.
