Students should be agents of change, says Javadekar

Union Minister for Human Resource Department Prakash Javadekar called upon the youths to be the harbingers of the transformation.

Delivering a talk on Digital Literacy Campaign at a programme organised by Manipal University, the minister said it is indeed a unique period where the country is witnessing a great change from cash society to less cash society.

“This transformation is a historic occasion and we are part of the story,” he said and urged the students to volunteer for the campaign instead of being the passive observers of the historic transformation. Already 2.30 lakh students have volunteered across the country in the last 20 days, he added.

“Mindset is the problem,” the minister said and observed that youths should be the agents of change.

He said money is the medium of exchange in India, which has 12% of GDP in currency component. The developed countries have 3% to 4% GDP in currency component. “The country needs to improve. There are 109 crore Aadhaar cards, 100 crore mobile phones and 147 crore saving bank accounts. There are 25 crore Jhan Dhan accounts with 1.35 bank branches, 1.55 lakh post offices, 1.25 business correspondents and 1.25 lakh ICT centres,” he said.

Maintaining that Indians adopt technology much faster than any other countrymen, the minister said 70 crore people in rural and urban area recharge their mobiles every month. From December 2 to 20, digital transactions at petrol pumps have raised from 20% to 70%. Out of 77 crore debit cards, only 12% are being used for purposes other than withdrawal of money. Last year, 50 crore ATM cards were used for cash withdrawal and only 10 crore were used for swiping, he added.

Javadekar said there is 60% cash transaction in 500 cities where the population is one lakh and more. These cities will be included and targeted for digital transaction. BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) app is India's bet to push the switch to a cashless economy. It requires nothing more than a smart phone to make any sort of transaction. There has been eight million downloads in eight days with crores of transactions, he said.

He also inaugurated Centre for Full Mouth Implant Rehabilitation with Dental Implants and Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) at Manipal College of Dental Sciences.