Feature
Direct Benefit Transfer a game-changer: Arvind Subramanian
New Delhi: Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian on Thursday described the government’s Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme as a “game-changer” for India.
He highlighted the fiscal impact of the DBT scheme of cash transfers which yielded savings of over Rs.12,000 crore on domestic LPG in 2014-15.
“DBT is important not only for fiscal savings … if the government can deliver these services it would legitimise the state, it would arrest the ongoing trend of de-legitimisation of the state the world over,” Subramanian said at a roundtable here on “Direct Benefit and Basic Income Transfers” organised by the International Centre for Human Development.
“By moving from a regime of subsidies to transfers, you liberate the market system to work more efficiently. That is why this would count among the first generation of reforms,” Subramanian said in his illustrated talk titled “Realising the JAM vision”.
JAM, which was first coined by the chief economic advisor last February in the Economic Survey, represents – Jan Dhan, Aadhar and Mobile – that will allow the transfer of benefits in a leakage-proof, targeted and cashless mode.
“The DBT scheme is, above all, a way of improving the life of the vulnerable and the poor,” he said.
Subramanian went on to illustrate how pilot projects and studies show subsidy leakages to have gone down from between 12 to 25 percent in case of domestic LPG, or cooking gas.
Pointing out that though studies showed that Direct Benefit Transfer in LPG (DBTL) reduces sales of subsidised cylinders on an average by 24 percent, he, however, urged caution in extending the LPG model to kerosene, for instance, which does not have a supporting supply chain in the form of state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs).
He said that to realise the JAM vision, “government must invest in IT infrastructure towards identifying beneficiaries, as well as coordinate across ministries and states”.
The “last mile challenge” in this direction is to build on the “Jan Dhan challenge”, he said, indicating the direction for the future as being “payment banks, mobile money transfer and a deep network of business correspondents”.
In this connection, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said at the launch of the Digital India programme here on Wednesday: “Our financial inclusion programme is the largest in the world. In less than five months, we have opened 160 million ‘Jan Dhan’ accounts. The Direct Benefit Transfer scheme has been extended to 130 million people in a few months.”
“As many as 110 million new insurance policies were issued in less than five weeks … that’s how technology has been used. Through Digital India, we want to change our lives and way of governance,” the finance minister said.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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