Government will launch the payout of direct cash subsidy to people through the Aadhaar based system in 51 districts of the country from January 1. This was stated by Finance Minister P Chidambaram while addressing the Bancon conference in Pune.

He said the government intends to complete roll out of the direct cash transfer through the Aadhaar system in the entire country by the end of 2013.This will, among other things, facilitate the pay out of direct cash subsidies to the targeted beneficiaries.

Mr. Chidambaram said, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will take a meeting of the cash transfer committee on Monday in the run up to the implementation of the scheme from the beginning of next year. Stating that the economy is in a slowdown mode, he said he economic growth is expected to be 5.5 per cent in the second quarter.