PM launches cashless/less cash township models across 12 states

Prime Minister has launched 81 cashless/less cash townships across 12 states in Nagpur. The 81 townships included 56 in Gujarat and 25 in 11 states including Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Chhatisgarh. The model of cashless/less cash township was developed by Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd (GNFC) across these States under the auspices of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.
GNFC’s township at Bharuch (Gujarat) had become India’s first 100% cashless township after demonetization. It is expected that these 81 townships will deliver 2.5 lakh cashless transactions per day, translating into 9 crore cashless transactions in a year.

Cashless townships

The townships for adopting GNFC’s model were selected based on a third-party assessment by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC). The chosen 81 townships belonged to that of central public sector companies such as ONGC, Indian Oil, NTPC, SAIL, BHEL, NMDC, CRPF, BSF and Police Lines and also to private sector townships like Reliance, Essar, Adani, Birla Aditya, Welspun etc.

Criteria

The criteria for qualification of a township to a less cash township are: townships must have completed the payment acceptance infrastructure; all the families residing in the townships must have been covered under training programmes; 80% of total transactions during the review period should have been done through digital modes.
NITI Aayog has appreciated GNFC’s model and had advised Central ministries and CMDs of 300-plus central PSUs for quickly adopting to this model.

Significance

As per the study conducted by PWC on GNFC’s cashless initiative, following benefits have been identified:

• It resulted in financial inclusion, cashlessness as a lifestyle, better parental control over child’s expenses, women’s empowerment, more convenience in performing transactions and social upliftment.
• Over 96% of farmers during the assessment reported cost savings resulting from fewer trips to fertiliser shops and discounts on cashless transactions. They have also reported better money management.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2017