The disbursement of flood relief amount in cash has covered nearly 21 lakh beneficiaries in Chennai and parts of three neighbouring districts.
This accounts for about 85% of the total beneficiaries of 25 lakh. Going by the coverage, a total of ₹1,260 crore has been distributed to the beneficiaries, who have been identified mainly on the basis of ration cards.
Since Sunday (December 17), a sum of ₹6,000 each is being paid to flood-hit families in the four districts, subject to certain stipulations. In respect of those not covered under such conditions, the payment will be made through banks, based on the scrutiny of applications submitted by the affected persons. This will be done separately, says a government official, adding that “we have ensured the payment of relief only after bio-metric verification of the beneficiaries.”
Meanwhile, the Madras High Court’s suggestion of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) only through bank accounts has triggered a debate among policy makers on the hurdles being faced by the authorities in translating such an idea into a reality.
In support of the ongoing distribution of the flood relief amount in cash, the policy makers cite certain factors repeatedly. Paucity of time for verification of details of bank accounts, the possibility of multiple persons using the same bank accounts and the consequent effect of the needy not getting the amount, and the tendency of banks to adjust the relief amount against outstanding loans are among the reasons mentioned in defence of the move.
To a query, the official replies that under the given legal framework, the authorities can seek information from people regarding their bank details only in reference to any specific scheme and not otherwise.
However, there are advocates for DBT. K.R. Shanmugam, Director of the Madras School of Economics says that the DBT would be an ideal arrangement so that there is no room for any leakage. He hastens to add that the experience of Tamil Nadu is that the system of cash payment has been generally effective. Traditionally, the Pongal gift hamper included the payment of cash to the ration card holders.
The advocates point out that the idea of DBT is nothing new to Tamil Nadu and it has been practised for more than 10 years on many occasions or in respect of several schemes. At the time of Chennai floods in December, 2015, the relief amount ₹5,000 each was disbursed to 14 lakh families by direct transfer to their bank accounts at one shot. Next year, when the State was hit by a spell of drought, 32.3 lakh farmers were given input subsidy, totalling ₹2,247 crore, through their bank accounts.
