In Karnataka, Direct Benefits Transfer pilot projects were launched in Mysore, Dharwad and Tumkur. Since the launch on January 1, the district administration has started transferring the benefits in 16 out of 31 schemes.
About 41 per cent of the population in the district have Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. The district administration has identified 37,783 beneficiries for 16 schemes. Bank accounts have been opened for 33,986; 31,188 accounts have been Aadhaar seeded.
Between January 1 and January 21, banks have transferred Rs 45.45 lakh to 1,458 beneficiaries.
“We are adding new names to the list of beneficiaries everyday,” Ajay Nagabhushan M N, deputy commissioner of Mysore, says. “For the first time in the country, we have also successfully transferred money to the beneficiary accounts under the National Rural Employment Guarantee programme last week.”
The district administration has transferred Rs 30,000 to each of the 29 workers under the employment guarantee scheme on January 19.
DBT has come as a big relief to the beneficiaries such as Tasmiya Banu, an eight-year-old student of Shreekantheshwara. “My mother is no more and my father spends all the money that we get on alcohol. Now, I am getting Rs 150 in my account and I will use the money for my education,” she says.
