DBT for fertiliser subsidy from Feb 1

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government’s plan to roll out direct benefit transfer (DBT) for fertiliser subsidy from January 1 has been deferred by a month due to delay in supply of point of sale (PoS) devices to identified retailers.Sources in the Agriculture Department said implementation of DBT scheme for fertiliser will only be possible from February 1 due to some technical reasons.

Of the 11,680 retailers identified by the Agriculture Department for sale of fertilisers, PoS devices have been supplied to 6,174 retailers. Though the Cooperation Department has planned to sell chemical nutrients through primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS) and large area multi-purpose cooperative societies (LAMPS), only 913 societies are equipped with PoS device.
Implementation of the scheme will only be possible when all the retail points are equipped with PoS device and the beneficiary farmers have bank accounts, said an officer who has been assigned the job of DBT scheme implementation.

As per the request of State Government, the Ministry of Chemicals ad Fertilisers supplied the balance PoS devices which are being delivered to the retailers concerned. Since creation of retailers ID and installation of software will take time, the scheme will be implemented from February 1, sources said.
“The identity of the beneficiaries will be verified through Aadhaar-based biometric authentication. The buyers details will be captured in the PoS device deployed at the retailers end. This would not be possible in retail points having no PoS device,” the officer said.

In a communication to the State Government on Friday, the DBT Cell in the Department of Fertilisers, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, has advised the State to ensure that all PoS devices have latest software. Retailers should be asked to update their stock book before going live with the DBT scheme.
The objective of the scheme is to bring in transparency in the sale of fertilisers which is a subsidised item. The transaction details will be recorded on the PoS machines supplied to retailers. The DBT scheme will stop diversion of fertilisers to industries and the Government will  save huge amount towards subsidy. The Centre is providing subsidy to the tune of `70,000 crore annually towards fertilisers.