President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said that the country is on the cusp of a digital revolution and urged citizens to extend their unstinted support to the mission of a less-cash India. He highlighted that efforts of the Narendra Modi government will achieve the goals only if people adopted them proactively.
The President was speaking on the occasion of the 100th mega draw of lots for Lucky Grahak Yojana and Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
President Mukherjee also said that the Aadhaar card initiative is a watershed event in the development story of India. "Aadhaar enabled payment system has made digital payments possible for even those section of the population who may not have mobile phones," he said.
Over a billion Indians have a unique identity number with a biometric identifier, which is unique in its own way. Even countries which are technologically far more advanced than India with comparatively much smaller size population do not have such a system in place.
"I am happy today to be a part of the digital payment movement that India has embarked upon. I congratulate each one of you who has contributed in this mission to make India a less cash society. This will help ensure financial inclusion where every Indian, irrespective of her socio-economic status, is empowered with necessary digital tools to participate in the new age economy," he said.
President Mukherjee said that India has a long way to go to become a cashless society. "Presently, we remain primarily a cash-based economy with about 95 percent of the personal consumption and 86 percent of all transactions being in cash," he said.
"The initiatives of the government are a good beginning and we need to sustain and nurture these with active participation from all segments of the society. It is necessary to reduce cash in circulation and impart greater urgency to promoting secure digital payment methods to ensure greater transparency," he added.
