A task force constituted by the government on transfer of direct subsidy in the case of fertilizers among others has recommended a phased approach for implementation of this transfer to the beneficiary.

The government had constituted the task force under the chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani, chairman of UIDAI on February 14. The Task Force has submitted its interim report to the government on July 5. The task force is in the process of having discussions and carrying out pilot studies.

The task force has recommended the phased approach for the implementation of the transfer of direct subsidy to beneficiary as under:

Phase I: Information visibility about the movement of goods across the fertilizer supply chain, till the last point at the retailer, from whom the farmer buys the fertilizers. This information on availability of the retail point will be made available on transparent public portal.

Phase II: In the interim report, it is envisaged that the subsidy will be released to the retailer (last point sale) when he receives the fertilizer. This will involve transfer of subsidies directly to the retailer bank account on receipt of fertilizer from the wholesaler. The advantage of this phase is that fertilizer will more at full value across the supply chain up to the retailer.

Phase III: Transfer of subsidy to intended beneficiaries once the AADHAAR numbers are given to the beneficiaries and AADHAAR enabled payment bridges are in place.

This was informed by the Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Srikant Kumar Jena in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

The minister also said that as and when the task force submits its final report, it would be taken up for consideration and implementation by the government.