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Congress eyes political dividends from move to provide Direct Cash Transfer
-The Economic Times

Congress is hoping to reap political dividends from its move to provide direct cash transfer to the beneficiaries of welfare schemes just as it believes it did in the previous elections from the rural employment guarantee scheme. Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, who, along with finance minister P Chidambaram, was deputed by the party to explain the details of the ambitious scheme on Tuesday, termed the initiative "a revolutionary political campaign".

In an invocation of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's famous observation that of the 100 allocated by the government only 5 reaches the poor, Ramesh said, "This is an attempt to remove the middlemen from the system. This would mean giving to the poor their right - aapka paisa aapke haath (your money in your hands)." As the scheme will be rolled out in phases, Congress plans to set in motion its party machinery at the grassroots to ensure that the social welfare initiative translates into electoral gains. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi will hold a meeting in Delhi and brief the party's heads in districts across the country about the initiative, Ramesh said.

Though Chidambaram said nothing should be read into the way 51 districts have been chosen for rolling out the first phase of the scheme, it is hard to miss the fact that none of the 12 states included in the phase are set to go to the polls in 2013. He said the government did not want to launch an ambitious scheme and then stumble, explaining that this is why it has chosen scholarship schemes and pension transfers to test the system. While direct cash transfer is doable in the case of subsidised LPG cylinders, the measure will be complicated in the case of food and fertiliser in the first phase, the minister said. The finance minister dismissed as absurd the opposition's allegation that the initiative would amount to a bribe to beneficiaries. "This has nothing to do with early elections. Elections will come and go. Governments will come and go. But you will see that this system will remain. It will be a game-changer. It will be a path-breaking reform," Chidambaram said. "District collectors would be brought to Delhi to sensitise them about the scheme. We hope that they would remain in their positions for the next one year," Chidambaram said.

Ramesh said Congress was just fulfilling its promise made ahead of 2009 elections. "Congress is a political party, not an NGO. We had promised cash transfer of benefits and subsidies in our election manifesto of 2009," Ramesh said. Chidambaram said about 29 schemes are ready to start from January 1, in 51 districts spread across 16 states. The electronic cash transfers will be based on Aadhaar platform. The entire country is targeted to be covered by the end of next year, he said. Cash will be given to the beneficiaries having Aadhaar-enabled account number through the bank branches or banking correspondents. Aadhaar, a 12-digit number, serves as a proof of identity and address anywhere in the country. UIDAI has already issued 21 crore Aadhaar cards.