NITI Aayog to honour 50 Gram Sabhas that adopt digital banking

The NITI Aayog also stated that the Maharashtra government has informed the panel about its move to introduce an Aadhaar Bill.
Niti Aayog
Niti Aayog

NEW DELHI: The special committee of the chief ministers on promotion of cashless transactions headed by the Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandra Babu Naidu has decided to honour the first 50 Gram Sabhas which go digital for banking functions. The NITI Aayog, which is coordinating the meetings of the special committee, has stated that the Maharashtra government would pass a legislation to give a statutory backing to Aadhar based banking transactions.

“The Committee decided to recommend to the government that the first 50 Gram Panchayats which become cashless should be honoured. It was also decided to designate specified villages as Cashless Transactions (CLT) villages on the lines of Open Defecation Free (ODF) villages. An accreditation system for certifying villages as CLT may be developed,” the NITI Aayog said, while sharing the outcome of the meetings of the special panel on promotion of cashless transactions.

The NITI Aayog also stated that the Maharashtra government has informed the panel about its move to introduce an Aadhaar Bill in the legislative assembly to give legal status to the use of Aadhaar number for various purposes, including banking transactions. The state government apprised the panel that the state has launched a major campaign to promote digital transactions.

“Madhya Pradesh government reported that it had initiated a major programme to digitize the transactions in state mundies. Odisha government pointed out that the state was deficient in financial infrastructure, including bank branches, bank correspondent, Internet penetration and mobile phones,” said a senior official in the the think-tank panel.

The Committee also considered the issues relating to procurement of equipment like “Point of Sales (PoS)” machines and Micro Automatic teller Machines (ATMs). It was decided that Secretary, MeitY will prepare a status note on the procurement options for these devices, added the official.

The special committee of chief ministers has been set up by NITI Aayog to examine and promote the adoption of digital payment systems across the country. Besides Naidu, chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Puducherry and Sikkim are members of the panel. The vice chairman and CEO NITI Aayog Arvind Panagaria and Amitabh Kant respectively along with five experts, including the former Chairman of UIDAI, Nandan Nilekeni, are members of the panel.

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