National Payment Corporation of India mapping turns hurdle for subsidies

Nellore: Though the government had issued a notification directing banks and the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) to change the process of mapping Aadhaar-linked bank accounts for government subsidies, still beneficiaries under the housing projects in the district are facing difficulty for getting the government support. 

There are dues of around Rs 30 crore to be paid to the beneficiaries routed through the NPCI. The State government had constructed around 25,000 NTR houses in 10 constituencies across the district. Earlier, the subsidy was Rs. 50,000 and it has been enhanced to Rs 1.5 lakh. People thought that they can construct a better house with the increased subsidy amount but the official procedures were found to be major hitches for them to get the amount.

Basically, there is a norm that any government subsidy has to be routed through the National Payment Corporation of India after its Aadhaar based mapping. NPCI mapper is a source of Aadhaar numbers maintained by the Aadhaar Payment Bridge System and used for the purpose of routing the transactions to the designated banks. This system enables both State and Central governments to check status of subsidy to the beneficiary.

Interestingly, the mapping activity has been entrusted to some nationalised banks for quick completion. But, due to the alleged negligence of the banks, there are around 7,000-8,000 houses in the entire district, still to be mapped, for getting subsidy from the government.

“In fact, some bankers are having no specific idea about the system and hence they are not showing interest on the activity. Though we are producing required documents to the housing officials there has been delay in sanctioning the subsidy part. District administration has to focus on the problem for early sanction alerting the wings concerned,” said I Ramalingaiah from Nellore city.

There are around 8,000 houses to be mapped under NPCI for granting the subsidy which comes to around Rs 30 crore. A senior official from the housing department said that this has to be done by the designated bank but there was no focus on the activity. So, the system has to be done according to directions of the Central Government for quick completion.