The Rajasthan government is taking some serious steps to make the Centre's idea of a cashless economy a reality, and Jaipur metro going cashless first time in the country is one such example, an official said today.
Ajmer is among the top five districts in the country to go cashless in a major way. The district Collector Guarav Goyal was recently conferred the Scroll of Honour by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Goyal said he has taken initiatives that include making Ajmer and 26 villages in Pushkar cashless.
"We have activated 3.5 lakh RuPay cards out of 5 lakh cards in the rural areas through sensitisation," Goyal told PTI.
Talking about the popular Pushkar fair in October last year, dates of which clashed with the Centre's note ban announcement, he said the authorities co-ordinated with banks, hotels, guides and tourists to ensure a hassle-free experience amidst the cash crunch.
"I encouraged booth operators of Ajmer dairy to opt for digital payment and made awareness for the same among those involved in dairy business. We are making payments to teachers and other involved in the conducting exam of gram sewak and hostel wardens of hostels in digital way," Goyal said.
The Jaipur Metro officials claim it to be the first cashless Metro train in the country where the entire transaction of purchasing tickets has been made cashless.
"All nine stations have been made cashless where you can buy tickets or top-up your smart cards just by swiping your debit or credit card. We are the first Metro in the country to go cashless, JMRC Director (operation and system) C S Jeengar said.
State Insurance and Provident Fund Department (SIPFD) director (insurance) Kishna Ram Isarwal said he has issued orders to directly transfer insurance money into bank accounts of beneficiaries.
"On retirement, government officials were paid the insurance amount in the form of cash. But, now, we have made provisions to transfer the amount directly into their bank accounts," he said.
On the other hand, higher education department officials claimed that they gone cashless much before the demonetisation.
"We are already cashless. From accepting fees to paying scholarships to students, everything is digital. We have done it way back to provide facility and convenience to our students," said Mahavir Singh, Deputy Secretary of state higher education department.
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