OFFICALS FAIL TO COPE WITH DBT INNOVATION; PM CALLS MEET

NEW DELHI: Innovation has not helped the UPA government to puts its game- changer Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme on the fast track, pushing the Prime Minister’s Office to call a meeting of 121 district collectors to Monday to address the problem areas.

The government had launched a set of applications through its new portal dbtapps.nic.in to help ground level officials directly upload beneficiary information with the ministries running 25 programmes thatwere brought under DBT scheme. The apps were to be downloaded on one’s computer to maintain uniformity.

The government had also provided other technological tools for seeding unique identification or Aadhaar numbers in a person’s bank account but districtlevel officials have been slow in adopting them. By the end of March, only 4.2% beneficiaries had their bank accounts seeded with Aadhaar numbers, a must for money transfer under DBT.

“Either there is intellectual incapacity or reluctance to use technology for better governance,” said a senior government official dealing with DBT. He added that the district collectors on Monday would be instructed to hold special training for ground level staff to use technological innovations. The meeting is the first one after PM Manmohan Singh-headed committee decided to extend DBT to another 78 districts by July this year.