New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday pointed out gaps in the financial policies of the UPA government and said that the current government has identified eight crore fake bank accounts and saved tax payers’ money worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore, which was earlier going into the pockets of middlemen and people who were not beneficiaries.
Speaking at a session titled ‘Beyond Politics: Defining National Priorities’ at the News18 Network's Rising India Summit 2019 on Monday, Modi said, "We have weeded out eight crore fake bank accounts and saved Rs 1 lakh 10 thousand crore that earlier went to middlemen and to people who were not beneficiaries. All of this leakage has been plugged by our government."
The PM’s claim comes at a time when the government is planning to take the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) route for farmer subsidies and possibly a universal basic income framework in the future.
As per the latest figures, the cumulative savings on account of DBT stand revised to Rs 1,09,983 crore as on December 31 from Rs 90,000 crore on March 31, 2018, implying a saving of about Rs 20,000 crore in the current financial year alone.
The number of fake beneficiaries removed from the records has been updated to 80 million, while the total cumulative payout under DBT till date stands at Rs 6,05,900 crore.
Taking a jibe at the Opposition, he said, "When we started Jan Dhan Yojana four years ago, we were made fun of. They said, by opening bank accounts of the poor, what are you planning? Some also said that those who do not have money to eat, what will they do with bank accounts? This is the reason why even after so many years of freedom, more than half the population did not have bank accounts. We opened their accounts and linked with Aadahar cards,"
The updated figures represent an improvement over what Modi had mentioned while speaking at the 15th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) Convention in Varanasi on January 22, when he said Rs 5,80,000 crore had been transferred directly into the bank accounts of people through DBT and 70 million fake beneficiaries had been removed from the records to stop the loot.
“A former Prime Minister said if one rupee is sent from Delhi, only 15 paisa reaches the village. Unfortunately, even in its rule later for 10-15 years, that party (Congress) did nothing to stop this loot or plug the leakages – they knew of the disease but did nothing to cure it as they do not have the intention to do it,” the PM had said.
"Unlike before, all of the money went into their accounts and not a miniscule percentage of it," he added.
With more schemes being brought under the DBT ambit – totalling 437 schemes at last count – the DBT payout in this financial year has already touched Rs 2,32,100 crore this so far, compared to Rs 1,91,000 crore in the last financial year. As many as 19.8 million transactions through DBT have been carried out so far, implying nearly every person in the country got some benefit or the other through DBT.
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