From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Oct 23: If Udupi and Dharward districts got privilege of enjoying the Aadhaar-based direct benefit transfer for liquefied gas connections (DBTL) scheme from October 1, the people of Mangalore and Dakshina Kannada district will have to wait till New Year’s Day.

The State government and bankers have decided to implement the Aadhaar-based Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) scheme in 21 districts.

The scheme has already been implemented in four districts - Mysore, Tumkur, Dharwad and Udupi districts.

While DBTL would be launched in Uttara Kannada and Gadag on November 1, it would take off in 6 districts on December 1 and 13 districts on January 1, 2014.

Addressing top officials of the various banks at 125th meeting of the State-level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) in Bangalore on Wednesday, the Chairman SLBC and Managing Director of Syndicate Bank Sudhir Kumar Jain said the scheme would be implemented in six districts of Haveri, Bangalore Urban, Koppal, Bidar, Davanagere and Bijapur from November 1, Karnataka Rajyostava Day.

It would be launched on the New Year’s Day in Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Chikballapur, Belguam, Bangalore Rural, Bagalkot, Chikmagalur, Gulbarga, Bellary, Kolar, Ramanagara and Chamarajangar.

He said awareness has been created among LPG consumes to inform them about the importance of account opening and Aadhaar seeding.

“We will write to the oil companies and LPG distribution agencies to intimate banks about the progress of DBTL among their respective customers,” he said.

In the first phase, the scheme was launched in Mysore and Tumkur districts where 65 per cent and 63 per cent LPG consumers linked their Aadhaar numbers to bank accounts, he said.

The scheme was launched in Dharwad and Udupi districts from October 1.

The banks have been told to implement the scheme effectively in association with the district administration.

He said the list of 26 schemes of central sector/centrally sponsored schemes presently identified for direct cash transfer and the list has been circulated to all banks.

Jain said the State government has intended to hold an “Edu Fair” in association with banks, educational institutions and insurance companies from November 15 to 17 in Bangalore.

The Government proposed to launch the Rajiv Gandhi Loan Scholarship Scheme during the fair which provided interest subsidy during the moratorium period of loan availed by student studying in government and aided colleges.

The parental income of students should be less than Rs 2.50 lakh a year.

Banks have lent education loans amounting Rs 1437 crore and covered 20,041 accounts during the first quarter of 2013-14.