Fully cashless economy not possible in India, says MoS for finance

BAREILLY: At a time when the Centre is promoting cashless transactions with rewards and incentives, Union minister of state for finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar on Saturday admitted that it was not possible for India to become a fully cashless economy.
“We understand that a fully cashless economy is not possible in our country. The more number of people opting for cashless transactions, the more it is beneficial for the country.We believe that even if 15-20% of the population starts doing cashless transactions, it will be a positive step for us,” said Gangwar while talking to TOI at his home on Saturday. “There are more than 100 crore mobile phones in the country and people are trying to learn its use for cashless transactions,” he added.
For encouraging digital mode of transactions in the country, National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, the government's policy think-tank, on Thursday had announced a lottery with daily, weekly and mega awards for consumers and merchants. The awards will be offered through two schemes - the Lucky Grahak Yojana for consumers and Digi-dhan Vyapar Yojana for merchants at an estimated cost of Rs 340 crore. The first lucky draw will be on December 25 and it has been termed as a ‘Christmas gift’. The mega lucky draw would be on April 14, the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar.
Reiterating that demonetization is a historical decision taken against black money, Gangwar said, “As we are taking back currency worth Rs 16 lakh crore, it is natural that some problem will crop up. It is true that only half of the total currency has been introduced in the market but people are still supporting the government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sought time for 50 days to streamline things. I visited a few places and found that queues outside banks and ATMs have become shorter. Changes will be visible soon.”