Manipur’s Karang becomes the first cashless island of the country. Prime Minister Modi on Saturday honoured bureaucrats for making this possible and implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and other priority initiatives of the Centre.
Modi awarded civil servants for smooth implementation of four priority programmes — Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban and Rural), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana, and for promoting digital payments.
Karang, a remote region was cut-off from the (Bishnupur) district due to insurgency for a long time. Incentives were provided for training towards digital payments and five POS machines were installed on the island, the award citation read.
Self-help groups and youth clubs were roped in for community mobilization and parallel activities were conducted on the island for Aadhaar enrolment and opening of bank accounts.
An online channel was launched to create awareness about digital payments. Social media interventions were made for the purpose, according to the citation.
As a result, 92 per cent of the bank accounts were seeded with mobile and 70 per cent of them were seeded with Aadhaar Electricity bills paid digitally increased from 78 per cent to 97 per cent in the last 20 months.
Modi gave the award to Deputy Commissioner of the district for promoting digital payment.
Assam’s Dhemaji and Telangana’s Karimnagar were awarded for best implementation of ‘Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushal Yojana’, aimed at adding diversity to the incomes of poor families and cater to the career aspirations of rural youths.