With the D-day for the direct cash transfer fast approaching, banks are working overtime to make the beneficiary accounts Aadhaar enabled.
Enquiries with various banks revealed that only about 50-55 per cent of beneficiary accounts are linked with the Aadhaar numbers, a must for the scheme, as on today.
The Centre had announced that direct cash transfer for Government schemes would be implemented for Aadhaar accounts in 51 districts from January 1. In many States, though the numbers have been allotted, they have not yet been submitted to banks along with the beneficiary list, say bankers.
“We have asked the State Governments to provide Aadhaar numbers of beneficiaries in the identified list on a priority basis,” Shiva Kumar, Managing Director, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, said. The bank is implementing the scheme in Udaipur, Alwar and Ajmer districts of Rajasthan.
Many bank branches have put up banners requesting people to submit their Aadhaar numbers. The State Level Bankers Committees in States are also airing campaigns on FM radio channels to urge people to open accounts or submit their Aadhaar numbers. “We have completed the task of opening accounts in about 90 per cent of the households. The process of linking them up with Aadhaar numbers is on with the aid other departments concerned,” said M. Anjaneya Prasad, Executive Director, Syndicate Bank.
Syndicate Bank is implementing the project in four districts of Karnataka and some in Andhra Pradesh.
A little over 55 per cent of beneficiaries may have been linked with Aadhaar in all the 51 districts, M. Bhavantha Rao, Managing Director, State Bank of Hyderabad said.
A senior SBI official said serious efforts were on to rope in as many customers as possible under the scheme before the deadline.