UP govt disburses Rs 2.75L cr through DBT in 4.5 years

Lucknow: Setting a new record, the state government has disbursed Rs 2.75 lakh crore through direct benefit transfer under various welfare schemes in the last four and half years.

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) which means a direct transfer of money to the beneficiary's bank account, is a revolutionary step towards transparent governance. The UP government, on Saturday, had credited Rs 1,980 crore in the bank accounts of parents of 1.80 crore students of the state, for purchasing school uniforms, sweaters, bags, shoes and socks.

In the last Budget session of the state Assembly, Governor Anandiben Patel, while referring to DBT, had said that in the financial year 2020-21, the Yogi government has sent more than Rs 56,000 crore directly to the accounts of the beneficiaries through DBT. In this process, middlemen were eliminated and payments became transparent.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has always paid importance to sending funds to the accounts of beneficiaries through the DBT scheme launched by the Central government immediately after coming to power. Not only this, on his initiative, 137 schemes of 27 departments were onboarded in the state and an amount of Rs 2.75 lakh crore was sent to the accounts of the beneficiaries of these schemes through DBT.

While the DBT scheme is curbing corruption in the state, it is proving to be a boon for farmers, labourers, daily wagers, students and pensioners. DBT programme has helped the government in taking a quick effective response during the unexpected COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Money was sent directly to the accounts of lakhs of farmers, MNREGA workers, labourers from other states, women, old people, 'divyangs', and pensioners. The Jan Dhan accounts opened on the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi became helpful.

Immediately after coming to power, the UP government waived off loans of 86 lakh small-marginal farmers in the state worth Rs 36,000 crore which were transferred through DBT. Apart from payment of minimum support price, the Yogi government has paid more than Rs 1.45 lakh crore through DBT in the accounts of sugarcane farmers. Under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, so far Rs 27,521 crore has been sent to the accounts of more than 2.54 crore farmers through DBT.

Record purchase on GeM portal

The UP government has set new dimensions of transparency in the procurement of government departments by making record purchases on the GeM portal. For the third time in the financial year 2020-21, UP ranks number one in the highest government procurement through the GeM portal. Uttar Pradesh has made a purchase of Rs 5,471 crore. In the last four and a half years, the UP government has made a total purchase of more than Rs 14,878 crore through the GeM portal. mpost