Digital India, Digital Payments to ensure people can benefit more from technology in rural areas: Anurag Thakur

Launch of Digital India and Digital Payments will ensure more people can benefit from technology, especially in rural areas, said Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur. He added that the government has ensured that the advantages of technology are not restricted to a select few but are there for all sections of society. 

Addressing the Conference on Digital & Cashless Economy – “The Future of India’s Digital Payments” in New Delhi today, Thakur said that government has left behind the “Chalta Hai Attitude” and adopted “Badal Sakta Hai” Vision, sharing a small incident where the Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Sri Krishna Temple in Guruvayur, Kerala last month and paid temple ceremonies in advance, through a “Digital Transaction”. 

“Through his action, he inspired the idea that, “Temple, Tradition and Technology” can co - exist together in New India. His actions inspired millions of temple visitors across India to go Digital. This is how Tradition Meets Technology”, said Thakur.

Thakur further said that by applying Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and Aadhaar-linked Payments (ALP), the government has reduced delays in the payment of wages, curbed corruption and plugged up any leakages in the system. He said to ensure digital literacy in every house-hold, government has initiated the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) to make 60 million adults digitally literate in rural India of which more than 10 million people have already been trained.

Stating that Reserve Bank of India has released the ‘Payment And Settlement Systems In India: Vision – 2019-2021 which aims to transform India into a cash-lite economy and ensure that the country has a ‘state-of-the-art’ payment and settlement systems that are safe and secure, the minister said that “the west transitioned from Paper currency to Plastic card currency. India will transition from Paper currency to Digital currency, much faster and with more volume anywhere seen in the world”. 

He, however, cautioned that with these disruptive transformations, comes immense challenges of integrity and security of digital payment systems which is where there is a need to partner together, as government and industry.

On the occasion, Thakur also released “CII – Panacea” Paper on “The Future of India’s Digital Payments and Cashless Economy” during the conference.