N Satyanarayana, a physically-challenged person of I Polavaram mandal, became the first beneficiary under the ‘Aadhar Enabled Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme’ (AEDBTS) when he received pension from Union minister Jairam Ramesh here on Sunday.
East Godavari is among 51 districts in the country and four in the state selected for the scheme. Pensions, MGNREGP wages etc. will be directly credited to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries under the scheme. In a phased manner all cash benefits will also be linked to this scheme.
“The beneficiaries need not go round the banks and post offices for their amounts. They can draw their amounts and get essential commodities from ration shops anywhere in the country,” Jairam Ramesh said launching the scheme.
He paid wages under NREGP, pensions and scholarships for child labour through Micro ATMs.
The scheme would help eliminate mediators and fake beneficiaries. By the end of August 2013, Micro ATMs would be available in the entire state, he added.
In Andhra Pradesh, Rs 3,000 crore was paid towards wages to 55 lakh workers under MGNREGP and Rs 425 crore as pensions to 16 lakh beneficiaries, he said.
East Godavari has the distinction of achieving 99 percent enrolment for Aadhar and as many as 43.32 lakh persons were already issued UID cards.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said everyone in the state should enrol their name for Aadhaar number as it is important for every transaction.
From Ugadi, the state government decided to supply tamarind, salt, turmeric etc. in addition to rice, oil, dal and keresone through fair price shops.