Digital India... Vinit Vartak ©
The other day, standing in line at a Starbucks coffee shop in Malaysia. Almost half an hour wasted for change money of 18 ringgit 30 cents. At the same time, a lot of thoughts arose in my mind. A similar incident happened in India when I was buying vegetables from a greengrocer. The vegetable bought by one was 32 rupees 50 paise. The vegetable seller did not have spare money and the vegetable buyer also did not have spare money but without wasting a second he took out his mobile phone and paid 32 rupees 50 paisa through phone pay. He went on his way. The reason both cases come to mind is the difference in the digital revolution in the hands of the common middle class in both cases. One case is in a supposedly developed country like Malaysia and in an outlet like Starbucks and the other is in the case of a street vendor selling vegetables in an Indian city. But India's vegetable seller, and Indians as a whole, clearly stand out from the rest of the world in the digital age. This difference was not limited to one outlet but in the mindset of the people of that country as a whole.
On July 1, 2015, the then Prime Minister of India launched the 'Digital India' campaign in India. It was designed under the guidance of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The campaign started with the trinity of three zeros. Efforts have been made at all levels to make the common man a part of Digital India through UPI (Unified Payments Interface), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) keeping in mind zero time, zero touch and zero cost. India's former finance minister mocked the plan in Parliament. From where the seller who earns daily on the street and feeds his two meals a day will come under the purview of such a scheme? He had clearly said that digital revolution etc. are all unfulfilled dreams in a country like India which is agricultural and still struggling in terms of progress. Today in 2022 as many as 48 billion (4800 crore) transactions are being done through digital medium. Today, India leads the world in terms of digital transactions.Even in China, which is behind India, only 18 billion (1800 crore) transactions are being done through this system. India has achieved these figures only in the last 7 years. It would not be wrong to say that the speed at which they are growing in every corner of India is the beginning of a new digital revolution.
The digital revolution taking place in India has now become a subject of study before the world. Once upon a time it was said that if the government gave 100 rupees, only 15 rupees would be left by the time it reached the beneficiary. Almost 85% of the amount disappears from the government system and reaches the beneficiaries to be If all these avenues were to be closed, then the only way forward was Digital India. More than 130 crore people where 70% of people live in villages. It was a very big bow. Either way, to build a digital India, banking system, internet, mobile system and most importantly changing their mindset required a lot of hard work and purposeful steps. All this was likely to backfire politically and philosophically. However, the Indian leadership decided to go ahead with it.
Digital India started with connecting the common Indian with the banking sector. Because only after joining the banking sector, the benefits provided by the government would reach the lowest class of the society. India introduced Jan Dhan Yojana through which efforts were made from all levels to connect everyone in India with the banking sector. Today, as many as 29.5 crore common people have been connected to the banking sector through this scheme. Today 80% of people in India have a bank account. This means that more than 100 crore people are directly and indirectly a part of Digital India today. The next step was to make internet and mobile available in every corner of India. Today, 120 crore people in India have access to mobile phones. About 75 crore of them have smart phones. According to the rate of revolution in India, by 2026, 100 crore Indians will have smart phones. The number of internet users in India today is huge at 75 crores. 90 crore by 2025 and by 2040 the same figure will be beyond 150 crore. Internet usage is increasing significantly in rural India. 2019 has recorded a growth of almost 45% in one year. The increasing number of Internet access in rural rather than urban India is an indication of the ongoing digital revolution in India.
It is said that something good comes out of bad things. The Corona epidemic has in a way given a booster dose to India's digital revolution. Due to exit restrictions, cash shortages and restrictions on physical transactions, the demand for digital transactions in India has grown exponentially. In India, fintech (financial technology) companies were caught on the same occasion. India has the fastest growing number of fintech start-ups in the world today with a huge number of 6636. All these companies have a market value of 31 billion (3100 crores) US dollars. 21 of them are unicorns. (Unicorns are those companies whose market value is more than 1 billion (100 crore) US dollars.) Along with this, the government has taken all its operations to the digital system and added 6 crore 3 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) businesses to the digital revolution. Since the beginning of this revolution, the amount deposited by the government in the direct bank accounts of the beneficiaries is a whopping Rs 23 lakh crore. Consider that 85% of this amount would not have reached the beneficiaries had it not been for the digital revolution in India. 9.6 billion (960 crore) transactions were made through UPI in India during the first quarter of January 2022 to March 2022. The value of the rupees traded in it was as high as 10.25 trillion rupees (10.25 lakh crores).
In India today, digital payment boards are installed from street to street, from mall to footpath and even to beggars. The ease with which the benefits and availability of this digital revolution have reached the very last level of society is certainly admirable. It is likely that in the next few years cash transactions in India will come to an end. The digital revolution has curbed corruption in a way. Of course, there is still a long way to go. But the speed at which India is moving towards digital transactions is faster than many advanced nations. The digital revolution is not limited to transactions but is happening at all levels. Today, we can take all the facilities from your Covid vaccination, birth and death certificate to income tax return from your mobile phone. 13.6 million students are benefiting from online education in India. India ranks second in online education after the US. Figures show that India will overtake the US in the coming years.
That is why digital India is well ahead in this century. Many other people have the same experience as me. My big salute to all the anonymous people who started and contributed to this digital revolution.
Jai Hind!!!
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