The discounts announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to provide incentive for a switch to digital transactions will compound the problems being faced by the poor due to demonetisation. The shift from the war against black money to the transition to a cashless economy was an afterthought to validate the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. The prime minister spoke not a word on cashless economy on November 8 when he announced demonetisation.
Incentives for e-transactions end up rewarding tech savvy sections of the population at the cost of the country’s poor. If the government thinks it is easy to go cashless without hurting the poor it is living in a dream world. For all the hype surrounding demonetisation and Digital India, they do not promise to better the quality of life of the poor people.
G David Milton Maruthancode
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