Cleansing DBT schemes helps save Rs36,500 cr for govt

The Narendra Modi-led government claims to have saved a total of Rs36,500 crore by weeding out fraud accounts from the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes by plugging loopholes in the existing programmes.

By streamlining the Pahal-DBT scheme of the oil ministry, 35 million duplicate beneficiaries were identified and blocked while at least 16.2 million bogus ration cards were detected.

The flagship rural employment guarantee scheme MNREGA, which has been a major drainer of resources due to massive corruption, has also been cleared of bogus job cards, resulting in a saving of Rs3,000 crore.

The government also managed to burst a racket in subsidised kerosene distribution. Reports said six lakh bogus beneficiaries were found in Haryana alone.

Similarly, by weeding out false claimants from the school scholarship programme has helped the government save Rs520 crore in UP alone in 2014-15, where 25 lakh duplicate accounts were detected.

About 4.5 lakh duplicate enrollments were struck off the rolls in Haryana in the two years of Modi government.

Meanwhile, the number of schemes under the Direct Benefit Transfer have been increased from 35 to 65. Officials said 216.1 million new Jan Dhan accounts were opened. There are 1 billion Aadhaar card holders and 1 billion mobile connections.

All these have also ensured that money reaches the right beneficiaries under strict monitoring. Officials said a close monitoring of the schemes by the centre has also prodded states to act

The government has set a target of making all the schemes completely pilferage proof in the next three years. It will also help in curbing corruption, leaving no scope for mismanagement as was seen in mammoth plans like MNREGA which bled the system due to leakages.