The Telangana CM said that people should be educated on electronic financial literacy as technology played a major role in economy.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Tuesday said that people should be educated on electronic financial literacy as technology played a major role in economy.
The Chief Minister was speaking at a meeting in Pragati Bhavan with senior officials from the ICIC Bank. The bank officials explained the CM about the ongoing digital transactions trends in the country, and expressed their desire to extend their services to the people in the State.
A change in mindset could help in adopting the latest technology, because electronic transactions were not as complicated as they seemed, the Chief Minister said. Digital transfer of money post-demonetization had become a necessity for financial transactions since they reduced hassle and saved a lot of time and energy, he added.
"It is very much in our psyche to feel satisfied by actually touching and feeling the currency note," the CM said.
The Chief Minister also said the people were ready to accept any change provided if they were explained its benefits.
"It is not true that people do not posses knowledge on digital transactions. It is only a matter of familiarity. Since a lot of them are used to holding cash, they are yet to get familiarized with ATMs and swipe machines. In rural areas, do people have the habit of paying through cheque while purchasing daily commodities like milk, vegetables, and meat? No. But if we make them familiar with the tech, and also provide small markets with swipe machines, they will get used to it."
"It is not possible for Telangana to go digital overnight. But they need to start sometime," he said.
The CM also said that very soon the State would implement digital transactions at all levels and would become the first State to become independent of liquid cash.
He expressed satisfaction on the reports that Telangana, for the past five days, has been registering the highest number of digital financial transactions and stood first in the nation in those terms.
The Chief Minister asked IT Minister K T Rama Rao to educate people on digital transactions through jingles and commercials, similar to what the Centre did.
The CM also underlined the need to make the State administration a partner in the entire process and all employees working in rural areas from village Secretaries to undergo training.
The bank representatives gave several suggestions to the Chief Minister, responding to which, the CM urged them to take one step at a time.
"In the first phase, all financial transactions done by the government should be digitized. The money received by the government through registrations department, civil supplies department and others, the payments being made to contractors and salaries to the employees should be made through e-transfer. All transactions should be done through the Uniform Payment Interface system. Similarly, if farmers deposit their money after selling their produce in banks, they would slowly learn the digital transactions," he urged.
The CM also reiterated that once a cashless society was established, there would not be any other taxes except the GST and the Banking Transaction Tax. He wanted the banking management and employees to help people understand the latest methods and extend impartial services.
KCR agreed to formally launch the State government's TS e-Wallet during the Collectors' conference to be held on December 14.
Senior officials from ICICI Bank, zonal head Siddhartha Mishra, regional head Vineet Balhotra, retail business head Avijit Saha, DGM geography head Jita Mishra and Ministers K T Rama Rao, G Jagadeeshwar Reddy, P Srinivas Reddy, MP Vinod Kumar, MLCs Palle Rajeshwar Reddy, Srinivas Reddy, Subhash Reddy, Chairman TSMDC, B Narender Reddy, Chairman, Forest Development Corporation, CMO officials Bhoopal Reddy and Smita Sabharwal participated in the meeting.