-NDTV Raipur: Chhattisgarh does not favour the Centre's plan to dole out subsidies to beneficiaries by direct cash transfer, the state's chief minister Raman Singh has told the Prime Minister. In a letter to Dr Manmohan Singh and Union Food Minister KV Thomas, the chief minister said limitations in banking and information technology would make it difficult for Chhattisgarh to implement the scheme. He said Public Distribution System (PDS) outlets were the most...

-The Telegraph Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s ambitious plan to replace the leak-prone subsidy regime with direct cash transfers to bank accounts of beneficiaries may get delayed in Bengal because of tardy progress of biometric enrolment of residents in the National Population Register (NPR). Data available with the state’s directorate of census operations, which is overseeing NPR biometric enrolment, show that only 18.8 per cent of the population has been covered under the...

-Rediff.com In a move that shows the urgency and seriousness with which the UPA 2 is planning the execution of first phase of direct cash transfer scheme before the January 1, 2013, deadline it has set for itself, the Union government has notified formation of two core committees -- called Mission Mode Committees -- tasked with rollout of the scheme. One can imagine the urgency and importance accorded to the direct...

-The Economic Times The government plans to directly transfer money to the bank accounts of cooking gas customers even if they do not have Aadhaar identification. The rollout will start with a pilot project in Andaman and Nicobar Islands by April, and will be extended to the rest of the country in a year. The oil ministry will also seek Cabinet approval to end the sale of subsidised kerosene and proposes to transfer...

-The Hindustan Times The government will begin switching over to a system of direct cash transfers for welfare in the New Year and hopes to roll it out all over the country in the ensuing 364 days. This is a radical departure from the existing welfare delivery mechanism so riddled with leaks that a mere fraction of the benefits reach the intended target groups. By co-building these transfers with biometric enumeration...