A standard operating procedure (SOP) for the scheme has also been laid out by state govt
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The state govt has approved the onboarding of the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme for above poverty line (APL) saffron ration card-holding farmers in 14 farmer suicide-hit districts on the MahaDBT 2.0 portal. The govt resolution (GR), issued by the food, civil supplies and consumer protection department on Oct 30, covers Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Nanded, Beed, Dharashiv, Parbhani, Latur, Hingoli, Amravati, Washim, Akola, Buldhana, Yavatmal, and Wardha. Eligible farmers not covered under the National Food Security Act, 2013, will receive Rs 170 per beneficiary per month in cash instead of foodgrains, according to the GR. The scheme was re-engineered under govt process re-engineering and onboarded on MahaDBT 2.0 (mahadbt2.maharashtra.gov.in) to make it more transparent, faster, error-free and integrated. A department secretary-led review meeting on Jan 22-23, 2025, decided to route the scheme through MahaIT-run direct benefit transfer. Approved through a Feb 28, 2023, GR, it provided Rs 150 monthly from Jan 2023. A June 20, 2024, circular raised this to Rs 170 from April 2024. The GR also referred to an earlier GR dated July 24, 2015.
It has also laid down a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the scheme. Under the scheme, the benefit amount will be transferred to the Aadhaar-linked bank account of the woman head of the household. If there is no woman head, or if her account is not Aadhaar-linked, the amount will be credited to the account of a senior male member or another member of the family. The Aadhaar numbers of all members listed on the ration card must be linked to the Ration Card Management System (RCMS), and e-KYC of every beneficiary is mandatory. Tehsil offices will guide members who do not have Aadhaar cards on the process of obtaining them.
The GR states that “the amount will be revised every year in line with hikes in the minimum support price, as per the Cash Transfer of Food Subsidy Rules, 2015, notified by the Centre. The revised sum will be rounded off to the next multiple of Rs 10”. It will then flow automatically to MahaDBT 2.0 through the Mahasarathi system. Rs 170 per member per month will then be credited to Aadhaar-linked accounts. The benefit is to be disbursed through MahaDBT 2.0 from April 2026.
Stay updated with the latest Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar news.
The state nodal officer (SNO) will complete the “allocate beneficiaries” process after checking the number of approved beneficiaries by financial year and instalment, and the admissible funds. Under the SOP, data of eligible ration card holders on the Ration Card Management System (RCMS) will be given to Maharashtra Information Technology Corporation Ltd. Officials at taluka, district and state levels will get logins. Taluka-level officers will check RCMS data month-wise, financial year-wise and fair price shop-wise. They will select an eligible member with an Aadhaar-linked bank account, preferably the woman head of the family, and forward the application to the district. If she has no such account, another member’s Aadhaar-linked account will be chosen. District-level officers (DSO) will scrutinise the applications and either give bulk approval or reject them with reasons if defects are found. The SNO will then generate a bill or Request for Transfer (RFT) and submit it to the drawing and disbursing officer (DDO). The DDO will digitally sign the RFT, generate and digitally sign an XML file and trigger payment. New ration card holders will become eligible from the month after their RCMS registration is completed. Download the TOI App.