As the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) programme moves to expand over more schemes, there are numerous operational challenges to be met. When it comes to the Public Distribution System (PDS), there have been two distinct approaches adopted so far – unconditional cash transfers or DBT and e-PDS or end to end automation of PDS. In the report Feeding India’s Poor: Plugging Leakages, Without Doing Any Harm, Isvary Sivalingam and Lokesh Singh evaluate the two models as undertaken by different states, and list specific conditions for their success. Each state should take its own decisions to adopt and adapt the most suited model, “considering the local social context and presence of important pre-requisites, such as better targeted communication campaign, streamlined enrolment process, robust banking network, sufficient DBT amount, and an overarching beneficiary-centric grievance redressal mechanism”.
India’s Payments Banks were in the news last month, with three of the eleven licensees withdrawing. However, as Sumita Kale and SV Divvaakar of Indicus note, there is no cause for doom in the industry, the churn is good as it will leave the strong long haulers in the fray (Don't write off payments banks, Mint, 1st June).
The monthly newsletter from the Indicus Centre for Financial Inclusion documents the latest news and views in the financial inclusion space. Editor: Sumita Kale can be contacted at sumita@indicus.org. The Indicus Centre for Financial Inclusion was launched in 2011 to distil and disseminate information on accelerating the poor’s access to high-quality financial services. The Centre is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. http://www.indicus.net/icfi
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