Objectives: To critically evaluate direct benefit transfer mission in India, in terms of Aadhaar Card linkages, seeded bank accounts and in light of global experience. The paper also takes an account of the inflationary pressures that unconditional cash transfers may bring in to the system.
Methods: This is more of a descriptive study. Literature related to the study is critically approached and a few facts and figure that are officially released by direct benefit transfer mission of India has been used for the better understanding for the period 2013-2017.
Findings: From the analysis it is evident that by the time the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system has been introduced in 2013, 5.68 crore beneficiaries were not holding an Aadhaar and the number became 8.36 crore in 2017. In 2017 only 29.01 % of fund transfer has been done through Aadhaar seeded bank accounts. Therefore even though Direct Benefit Transfer system is an innovative and efficient system, India was not prepared to take it up. So serious efforts of government is required in the grass ischolar_main level by providing Aadhaar and Aadhaar bridge payment assistance to the common people.
Application: Continuous evaluation is required to ensure that no beneficiaries have denied their services in name of Aadhaar bridge payments. They must be given enough time and support considering India’s depth and breadth in size and its poor literacy level among poor people. A study in the future when more data is available about the implementation of direct benefit transfer, can tell more systematically about the success and failures of the programme in India.