If at all one needed proof of the pitfalls of going digital overnight by replacing the time-tested practice of cash transactions, Cyclone Vardah provided that in ample measure when it lashed Chennai earlier this week.
Vardah pulled the city off the digital map, with telecom and internet services getting disrupted and ATMs and point-of-sale swipe machines rendered useless. With no end in sight to the cash crunch, even patients are finding it hard to get discharged from hospitals because their bills have not been settled. Civic authorities engaged in relief operations in the aftermath of the cyclone are facing difficulties, as contractors couldn’t pay workers their daily wages in cash. Workers need to buy rations for the day but are unable to do so.
In a country as economically and socially diverse as India, electronic payments can and should never become a universal practice. Ground realities can never be ignored.
With the aim of demonetisation shifting from the promise of eliminating black money to e-wallets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to have become the self-appointed salesperson of the latter. This is as disastrous as his reckless decision to demonetise high-value currency notes. He should be wary of advisors speaking what sounds like music to his ears. He must listen to those also who dissent.
S K Choudhury, Bengaluru
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