Lift ‘bank ban’ on Aadhaar: Sheila

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has said that her government’s plan to give Rs 1,500 crore to 30 lakh beneficiaries of social sector schemes in the state via cash transfers is facing hurdles as banks are hesitant to take Aadhaar card as the sole residence proof.

She was speaking at the meeting of North zone states with Finance Minister P Chidambaram here on Friday.

Dikshit stated that even though the state government has been facilitating opening of bank accounts for the beneficiaries so that money can be transferred directly to their accounts, banks have been insisting for documentary proof of residence despite the presentation of UID Aadhaar card.

“This is causing obstacle in opening no-frill accounts. During the preceding year, about 3.19 lakh no-frill accounts were opened in Delhi by various banks.  The number has reached to 19.81 lakh, thus, the remaining 10 lakh no-frill accounts from the under-privileged, economically weaker sections, need to be opened in the current financial year,” Dikshit said.  She said that the Delhi Government had earmarked 65 per cent of its budget for social sector schemes in the 2012-13 fiscal.

Hence, around Rs 1,500 crore would be directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries through electronic benefit transfer (EBT). This will enable all households belonging to weaker sections to receive financial support in the form of direct cash transfers through bank accounts, overcoming duplication of beneficiaries and leakage of funds, Dikshit said. From December 2012, the Delhi Government would implement the Annashree scheme, under which, vulnerable families not covered under BPL/APL/AAY category ration cards would become entitled for monthly financial support of Rs 600, which will be transferred directly into the bank account of the senior-most female member of the family, Dikshit said.

The Delhi Chief Minister also demanded that the state should be treated like a full-fledged state for a share in central taxes. The share of Delhi in Central Tax Collection has, in fact, been fixed at Rs 320 crore per annum for the last 10 years.