Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Urban Development and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation today addressed the officers of his Ministry regarding the steps being taken by the Government for facilitating a less cash economy and encouraging digital and online transactions.
Speaking to the media here, the Union minister said the initiative of the Union Government was an attempt to prevent delays through seamless transactions and end the menace of corruption and black money. He mentioned that the Government’s JAM (Jan Dhan, AADHAR & Mobile) initiative would also facilitate this transformation. In this context, he reiterated that Prime Minister’s JAM vision which would ensure maximum penetration of technology among the masses and maximum empowerment for our poor. He urged all officers to provide counselling to their staff to move and adapt to a cashless and digital transactions reducing the role of physical money in day-today transactions. “This exercise could also be conducted at the homes by officers and staff with the people associated in their day-to-day life as part of social responsibility”. Venkaiah also mentioned a few platforms available for digital transactions, including Unified Payment Interface and Mobile Wallets.
Union Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, Secretary I&B, Ajay Mittal, Secretary Ministry of Urban Development, Rajiv Gauba, Secretary Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, Dr Nandita Chatterjee, Senior officers from Ministry of I&B, Urban Development and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation were also present in the meeting held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
A presentation on “Government–Citizen Transactions” towards less cash economy including different platforms and methods of transaction was also made by Team NITI Ayog. The presentation was followed by a Question & Answer session, where doubts and queries were answered. (NSS)