Simplifying DBT through Beneficiary Management System (BMS), Highlights IFS Dr. Naresh Babu N, Director, Dept of IT, Govt of Tripura

Bhopal: A well-implemented management system for beneficiaries optimises the impact of social assistance initiatives, fostering integrity, transparency, and efficient support to those in need. It ensures efficient resource allocation by accurately identifying and verifying eligible individuals, minimising errors and preventing fraud.

APAC News Network organised the 4th India Digital Empowerment Meet & Awards – Madhya Pradesh Chapter, hosted by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of Madhya Pradesh in Bhopal. During the event, IFS Dr. Naresh Babu N, the Director in the Department of IT, Government of Tripura, talked about the topic of “Governance Transformation through New Age Technologies-Challenges & Opportunities & ICT Enabled Infrastructure Revamp.”

“We are promoting Digital Tripura & IT sector in the state through IT/ITES Policy, Data Center Policy, IT Startup Policy, New Generation Innovation Network Scheme and by setting up 2 IT Parks in the state, which is highest in the entire Northeast. The state government has also launched Beneficiary Management System (BMS) portal in 2020-21 to enable beneficiary management and facilitation of DBT for any beneficiary related welfare scheme,” he said. Let’s delve into these initiatives.

Requirement for a unified platform

• No platform existed to present the beneficiaries benefiting from diverse welfare schemes in a consolidated manner.
• Data had to be collected manually from different locations and consolidated manually for MIS reporting purposes.
• The possibility of fraudulent payments to ghost beneficiaries existed due to the absence of an online beneficiary identification mechanism.
• A comprehensive end-to-end online system for the state’s Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme was lacking.

Beneficiary Management System (BMS)

In the fiscal year 2020-21, the State Government introduced the Beneficiary Management System (BMS) portal to facilitate the management of beneficiary data and the implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for various welfare schemes across departments.

This initiative by the State Government involves the identification of beneficiaries through the Aadhaar-verified Tripura Ration Card (RC) database.

The BMS comprises three key components:

• Legacy Data Management – This component aims to capture legacy transactions from the fiscal year 2018-19 until the welfare scheme is integrated into the online Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) platform.
• BMS DBT – This component involves the registration, verification, and payment processes for beneficiaries participating in the welfare schemes.
• Dashboard – The dashboard provides a comprehensive view of all benefits received by a family or individual beneficiary.

Objective of BMS

• Consolidate all beneficiary-oriented schemes under a unified umbrella, namely BMS.
• Identify beneficiaries within the Aadhaar-verified Tripura Ration Card database.
• Enable Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) through the BMS portal for schemes lacking an application portal.
• Integrate with various DBT platforms like NSP, PEMS, MGNREGA, PMAY, etc., to retrieve and display DBT transactions in a centralized location.
• Organise all benefits provided to a beneficiary in a structured format.
• Enhance system transparency and accountability.

Key Features of the Platform

• Utilisation of the Tripura Ration Card database as the foundational citizen database for beneficiary identification.
• Adoption of the Ration Card Member ID as the unique identifier for beneficiaries.
• Implementation of upfront enforcement of bank account validation services (NPCI) to prevent failed transactions.
• Provision of multiple payment systems channels, including Treasury, NACIL, and eRUPL.
• Seamless integration with DigiLocker and Tripura e-District platform for retrieving supporting documents, eliminating the need for uploading scanned copies.
• Ongoing integration efforts with UMANG, NSP, PEMS to enhance platform capabilities.
• In-progress work to register as Sub-AUA to facilitate Aadhaar eKYC, aiming to include beneficiaries without a Ration Card.

Model Implementation

• Legacy Data Entry: Since April 2018, 29 Departments have inputted legacy data.
• DBT Payments:

– SC Welfare Scheme: Implemented in assisted mode.

– IT Scheme: Piloted in online mode.

Progress – Currently, 65 State DBT schemes from 15 Departments are integrated into BMS DBT.
Support and Monitoring – A PMU team is actively engaged for ongoing support and monitoring.

Beneficiaries of the Project

Till date coverage:

• Covered all 8 districts in the state.
• 8,52,379 beneficiaries have benefitted out of total 38,27,366 population as per Tripura Ration Card database (as on 05/08/2023).

BMS contributes to informed decision-making by providing real-time data on program effectiveness, enabling governments to design targeted interventions based on accurate beneficiary information. BMS is a crucial tool for optimising the impact of social welfare initiatives, aligning resources with genuine needs, and promoting efficiency and transparency in program administration.