Asserting that the cash transfer scheme was not being implemented in a hurry, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that the Aadhaar-enabled measure will be implemented carefully in phases and would help in plugging leakages in the welfare schemes.
“It will be a seamless transfer of the benefit from the transferor to the transferee’s bank account. It will eliminate leakages, delays, duplication and falsification,” Chidambaram said in a short notice question by BJP’s Prakash Javadekar.
He pointed out that the scheme was mentioned in the budget speech of his predecessor and has been in preparation for over a year.
“The scheme was not devised in a hurry and it will not be implemented in a hurry. Our watchword for the scheme is we will not hasten and will implement it slowly, step by step,” he said.
He said that the Direct Benefit Transfer of funds will be implemented in 42 districts from January 1, for 34 identified Centrally-sponsored schemes.
He admitted that there may be teething problems. “There will be some hiccups in the beginning. But, these hiccups can be overcome,” he said.
Chidambaram added that he was holding a meeting on Thursday with all the district collectors of the 43 districts to ensure its smooth implementation.