Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today held a meeting to discuss ways to streamline the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme for ensuring that only the needy get the subsidies. The meeting was held against the backdrop of preparation for the Budget 2016-17. An official said, this will help in reducing budget deficit and ensuring that public funds benefit only the poorer section. It was attended by Finance Secretary Ratan Watal, DEA Secretary Shaktikanta Das, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia and Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian.<br/><br/>The government transfers subsidy to LPG users as well as to beneficiaries of scholarships and pension schemes directly to their bank accounts under the DBT. From 1st of April, kerosene subsidy too will be transferred directly to beneficiary accounts. DBT for kerosene will help curtail subsidy outgo for the cooking fuel, which was about 24,799 crore rupees in 2014-15.