Cash Transfer to Individual Beneficiary – This category includes schemes or components of schemes wherein cash benefits are transferred by Government to individual beneficiaries. Example PAHAL, MGNREGA, NSAP etc. This transfer of cash benefits from Ministry/Department to beneficiaries happens through different routes, as given below:

In-kind Transfer from Government to Individual Beneficiary –This category includes schemes or components of schemes wherein kind benefits are given by the Government to individuals through an intermediate agency. Typically, Government or its agent incurs expenditure internally to procure goods for public distribution and make services available for targeted beneficiaries. Individual beneficiaries receive these goods or services for free or at subsidised rates.

To cite an example, in Public Distribution System (PDS), Food Corporation of India (FCI) is the Government agent responsible for procurement, movement, storage and distribution of food grains to Fair Price Shops. FCI issues the food grains at subsidised rates, as fixed by the Government. The rates so fixed do not cover the full economic cost incurred by the Corporation. The difference represents the consumer subsidy for the PDS, and is paid to the Corporation by the Government of India. Similarly, Government incurs internal expenditures for provision of subsidies in kind on other products like kerosene, fertilisers, books, medicines, vaccines, etc. The matrix below through examples depicts different categories of schemes which can be grouped on the basis of the type of benefits and the type of beneficiaries.

Apart from these two categories of schemes, there is another category of transfers from the government to different non-government functionaries who help in facilitation of various government schemes till the last mile. This category includes transfers made to the various enablers of government schemes like community workers, NGOs, in the form of honorarium, incentives, etc. for successful implementation of the schemes. Example – ASHA workers under NHM, Aanganwadi workers under ICDS, teachers in aided schools, sanitation staff in ULBs, etc. are not beneficiaries themselves but they are given wages, training, and incentives for their service to the beneficiaries/community.