Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Vis-a-Vis Digitally Empowered India: A Brief Analysis

The official website of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), under the Government of India, states thus, “DBT will bring efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability in the government system and infuse confidence of citizen in the governance. Use of modern technology and IT tools will realize the dream of MAXIMUM GOVERNANCE MINIMUM GOVERNMENT” (About Us, 2019). This statement in itself underlines the emphasis that the Government of India is attaching to the scheme. Since its inception on January 1, 2013, the scheme has done its bit to weed out a lot of corruption and inherent delay in the Public Distribution System (PDS) in India (Correspondent, 2016). However, going by the second part of the government statement itself, as quoted above, the success of the scheme depends a lot on an enhanced use of technology. This in turn necessitates an increasing number of digital awareness drives across the country so that the beneficiaries can truly reap the advantages of the system. This paper would try to see the various implications of the DBS and strive to link its present and future successes with the digital empowerment of India.