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The
Minister appeals to the business community to turn digital transaction into a national
movement
The Union Minister of electronics &
Information technology and law & Justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad
today called for a national movement to make digital transaction a way of life
for all sections of the society. Speaking at the inauguration of On-boarding
of self organized small and medium businesses / traders on digital payment
initiatives – project entrusted to the National Institute of
Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) by the Ministry of Electronics
& Information Technology, he said, “The objective of ushering in
transparency in the system along with reducing Corruption wave can only be achieved
with evolved participation of all sections of the society.”
The minister further added, “The
Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has resolved to work towards making
India a digitally advanced country which serves as a role model for the developing
world and the objective of reaching this goal has been rested with the ministry
of Electronics and Information Technology.”
The objective of these training
programmes is to understand and adopt simplified digital payment mechanisms
like UPI, USSD, BBPS, AEPS etc. in a convenient manner, which would contribute
towards establishing digital economy and convey the benefits of digital
payments to traders through capacity building programs. About 13500 small and
medium unorganized / self organized businesses/ traders are targeted. The
Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) shall be mobilizing traders and trade
union leaders for training on digital payment initiatives. Under this
programme, NIELIT shall be organizing 5 Regional Workshops at Delhi, Jaipur,
Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and 30 State Workshops and 100 DigiDhan Camps, all
over India.
The nation-wide campaign to launch the
training programs was inaugurated by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Union
Minister of Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice
in the presence of Shri Sanjiv Mittal, Joint Secretary, MeitY, Dr. Ashwini
Kumar Sharma, Director General, NIELIT and Shri Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary
General of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT)at the Auditorium,
SCOPE Convention Centre, SCOPE Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi.
In his address, Shri Sanjiv Mittal, Joint
Secretary, MeitY said, “With the increase in mobile penetration,
citizens and traders have started switching to digital mediums for financial
transactions. Mobile as a Point of Sale (PoS), Point of Purchase (PoP) and
Point of Acceptance (PoA) is also lessening the digital divide between urban
and rural India, along with drawing the masses into the net of financial
inclusion. Post Demonetization, NIELIT through its PAN India centres,
accredited training partners and facilitation centres has been making
appreciable efforts in promotion of digital payment initiatives. Capacity
building of SMEs and traders on digital payment by NIELIT trainers is another
nugget to take forward Government’s untiring efforts for creation of a
digitally vibrant society, which is also in line with the ‘Digital India’
mission.”
Dr. Ashwini Kumar Sharma, Director General, NIELIT
outlined the details of the programme for training of traders on digital
payment initiatives. He further said, “All NIELIT Centres have been geared
up to ensure that the training targets are achieved within 2-3 months. At
NIELIT, use of cash as a mode for making payment to vendors/suppliers has been
discontinued since 2014.I express my gratitude to representatives from UIDAI
and SLBs for organizing live demonstration including hands-on training to the
traders. On successful completion of the one day training programme by the
traders, a certificate of participation shall also be issued. It is worthwhile
to mention that the bouquet of Digital Literacy courses offered by NIELIT has
already been retrofitted with a module on financial inclusion developed by the
Ministry of finance.”
Shri Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General of the
Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said, “The DigiDhancamps shall
be organized in the market itself to digitally educate the shopkeepers and
merchants. CAIT has touch based with its member and market associations
throughout India and the main purpose of the Regional and State Workshops would
be to create momentum and vibrancy among the self-organized and informal
trading community. These Regional Workshops would also serve as Master Training
on Digital Payment Modes for traders, who would be involved with further
proliferation and promotion of digital payment initiatives among their fellow
traders.”
“Digital transaction will get a massive boast with
the implementation of the GST. I appeal to the Government to provide required
training on GST to the traders and merchants to make it a huge success,” added
Mr. Khandelwal.
The
event was attended by more than 200 traders, besides senior officials of the
Government
