Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT)
Digital ID is used to authenticate beneficiaries and enable direct transfer of subsidies, welfare payments, and entitlements into Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. India launched the direct benefit transfer (DBT) system in 2013. It uses the JAM trinity, comprising Jan Dhan bank accounts (no frill accounts), Aadhaar, and mobile connectivity, to deliver benefits directly to citizens, which eliminates intermediaries and reduces leakages. Aadhaar serves as the foundational identity for beneficiary authentication, bank account seeding, and payment reconciliation across multiple welfare schemes. The DBT framework has expanded from 28 central programs in 2013-2014 to more than 321 programs in 2025-2026. These programs include rural employment, farmer income support, maternity benefits, pensions, scholarships, and numerous state and central welfare programs. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) achieved 99.49% Aadhaar seeding of 13.55 crore (135.5 million) active workers as of March 2025. Similarly, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), which is farmer income support scheme, enrolled more than 11 crore (110 million) farmers during the same tenure. As part of the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), which is a maternity benefits scheme, pregnant and lactating mothers get INR 5,000. The government uses Aadhaar-based verification and SMS status tracking to enroll these benefits. As of 23rd May 2025, cumulative fund transfers through DBT reached INR 4,382,220 million (approximately USD 527 billion), with cumulative savings of INR 3.48 lakh crore (approximately USD 42 billion) achieved by plugging leakages in welfare delivery. The Aadhaar-enabled DBT system has transformed India’s social protection landscape. This system ensures benefits reach intended recipients promptly, reduces corruption, improves financial inclusion by incentivizing bank account opening, enables real-time payment tracking, and provides the government with accurate beneficiary data for evidence-based policy making.
