Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme, which has cumulatively disbursed more than Rs 43.3 lakh crore so far, has curbed corruption as seen in the earlier governments, thus redefining welfare delivery by enhancing transparency, curbing leakages and ensuring precise fund distribution.
Speaking at an India TV event, PM Modi gave an example of former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi, who had said that for every rupee targeted towards welfare and poverty alleviation, only a fraction – 15 paise – reached the intended beneficiary.
“Today, the DBT scheme has curbed the corruption and removed the middlemen, helping millions of people from the marginalised sections of society,” the Prime Minister emphasised.
The Centre’s transfer of subsidies through the DBT reached more than Rs 6.56 lakh crore in FY25.
In February, PM Modi released the 19th instalment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme to 9.8 crore farmers, who received direct financial assistance exceeding Rs 22,000 crore through DBT without involvement of any middlemen.
According to a latest report, the DBT system has resulted in cumulative savings of Rs 3.48 lakh crore through a reduction in leakages that were taking place earlier, and a 16-fold expansion in beneficiary coverage from 11 crore to 176 crore since its launch by the PM Modi-led government.
Since the money goes directly into the bank accounts of beneficiaries, the leakage has been curbed, which has resulted in a halving of subsidy allocations from 16 per cent to 9 per cent of total expenditure.
“The DBT has redefined welfare delivery by enhancing transparency, curbing leakages, and ensuring precise fund distribution,” the study stated.
This policy document evaluates a decade of data (2009–2024) to assess DBT’s impact on budgetary efficiency, subsidy rationalisation, and social outcomes.
The newly developed Welfare Efficiency Index (WEI), which quantifies fiscal and social gains, surged from 0.32 in 2014 to 0.91 in 2023, underscoring systemic improvements, the policy document states.
According to the document, despite a rise in welfare budgets from Rs 2.1 lakh crore in 2009–10 to Rs 8.5 lakh crore in 2023–24, subsidy allocations declined proportionally, reflecting DBT-driven efficiency.
Aadhaar-linked authentication eliminated ghost beneficiaries, enabling coverage expansion without proportional fiscal expenditure.
