Tumkur, Mysore and Dharwad were the three districts from Karnataka chosen by the Centre to introduce the Direct Cash Transfer (DCT) in Phase I of the programme. Of the three, Dharwad had lagged in implementing the DCT as the Aadhar coverage was the lowest of the three districts.
Beneficiaries of the four schemes had cash remitted to their bank accounts under the DCT programme in Dharwad district when it was launched on January 1.
Though 34 schemes are meant to be covered under the DCT for the district administration, beneficiaries of 16 schemes of the different departments have to be brought under the DCT in Phase I. Of the 40,320 beneficiaries of these schemes, only 15,478 have enrolled for Aadhaar card and have got the enrollment ID number.
Meanwhile, only about 80 per cent of the households have bank accounts and Aadhaar coverage is at a low of around 47 per cent in the district at present. As soon as the beneficiaries get Aadhaar number, it would be linked with their bank accounts and DCT would be extended to them, said Deputy Commissioner Sameer Shukla.
Post-matric scholarship for SCôST students, pre-matric scholarship for ninth and 10th standard students of SC communities, post-matric scholarship for OBC students, post-matric scholarship for handicapped students, merit-cum-means scholarship for school children, Union government’s incentive scheme for secondary school girl students, post-matric scholarship for minority students and national merit-cum-means scholarship for minority students are among the schemes being covered under the DCT in the district at present.
“A special campaign has been launched with 20 teams in each taluk to help the beneficiaries get enrolled for Aadhaar number and bank accounts,” said DCT Nodal Officer K Annapoorna.
According to Assistant Commissioner Suresh Itnal, DCT facility is almost ready for two more schemes and within a week, it is expected to be extended to 18,000 beneficiaries of different schemes. “Tumkur and Mysore districts have better Aadhar coverage and attempts are on to increase the Aadhar coverage in Dharwad district also,” he added.