NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said that the Aadhar card initiative is a watershed event in the development of the country. He urged upon the people to support the campaign of the government for the “less cash” society.
Speaking at the 100th mega draw of lots for Lucky Grahak Yojna and Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojna at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President stressed that efforts of the government will achieve their end only if people were to adopt them proactively. He added that India is on the cusp of a digital revolution.
“More than one billion Indians have a unique identity number with a biometric identifier which is unique in its own way. Even countries which are technologically far more advanced than India with comparatively much smaller size population do not have such a system in place,” said Mukherjee, while complimenting the government for promotion of digital transactions.
After the November 8 announcement of the decision on demonetization, the NITI Aayog had launched two schemes - Lucky Grahak Yojana for consumers and the Digidhan Vyapar Yojana for the merchants.
The President picked up six lucky winners on the final day of the 100 day scheme. “In the consumer category, three mega prizes of Rs 1 crore, Rs 50 lakh and Rs 25 lakh went to the consumers using Rupay Debit Cards making digital payment of less than Rs 1000. Three mega prizes for merchants worth Rs 50 lakh, Rs 25 lakh and Rs 12 lakh were also declared at the event,” the NITI Aayog said in a media statement, which added that the winners will be felicitated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 14 at Nagpur, on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti.