NEW DELHI: Hailing government’s move on demonetization, Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday exhorted youths to be part of government's push toward cashless economy and digitization that would bring in more revenue and weed out corruption.
Speaking at a function organized at Hindu College at Delhi University campus here in the national capital, Javadekar called youths as "agents of change" and urged them to help government’s plan to move toward a cashless economy, saying digital transactions will bring accountability and help weed out corruption.
He said a lot can be done but the problem is that everyone does not pay tax. "Digital transactions will bring in accountability and weed out corruption. The annual budget is worth Rs 17-18 lakh crore, of which around 5-6 lakh crore can be used for creating infrastructure for this purpose," he said.
Calling demonetisation as a "movement", Javadekar said this would lead to a less cash society which is needed to eradicate corruption, black money, fake currency and to bring in transparency.
Javadekar urged students to help for this cause and convince and educate more people about digital and cashless transactions. The government is focusing to reduce cash transactions in urban areas and 500 cities, which have been selected to achieve this.
Javadekar also informed that around three crore people across the country installed the Bhim App launched by the Prime Minister recently. The App helps in digital transactions of money and funds
Only four per cent of developed countries’ GDP are in cash, while the figure stood at 12 per cent in India, the minister said. “With 12 per cent of India’s GDP in cash, corruption has reached its peak which led the Prime Minister to take a drastic measure like demonetisation,” he said.
According to Javadekar at least 70 crore people in the country have debit cards and “if we use those we are spared from going to banks or ATMs.”