Rural Rajasthan Transforms into Digital Rajasthan Post Demonetisation

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Common man cosies up to the idea of Digital Rajasthan. PoS and e-Mitras become a Hit, e-Hospitals next on the list…

While the opposition is busy protesting on ‘Black Day‘ and ‘Aakrosh Divas‘, it’s good to know that certain states are genuinely putting in efforts to escape the vicious claws of demonetisation. India’s largest state Rajasthan is among the first few states were digital technologies have knocked the door of common men. Post-demonetization, several remote rural regions in Rajasthan witnessed an upward trend in use of PoS machines, ATMs and e-Mitras. It denotes the state’s crucial shift from traditional to a Digital Rajasthan.

As per Rajasthan administration, the state had already set up required infrastructure for cashless transactions under the visionary leadership of CM. Vasundhara Raje, who’s an avid patron of digital technologies promoted Bhamashah cards and e-chaupals earlier. Due to lack of awareness, the natives failed to capitalize on it.

pos-machines

Nevertheless, demonetization opened digital windows for farmers, labours and poor families. People are familiarizing themselves with banking and e-transactions, now that the nation is treading towards cashless economy.

Raje’s Digital Rajasthan Takes up Demonetisation Challenges

This month, state finance department has registered a growth worth 1700% on online transactions. Likewise, e-Mitras underwent a spike of 203% since November. To avoid standing in long queues outside banks and offices, people are preferring cards, NEFTs and cheques to pay dues, utility bills, traffic challans, college fees, fuel and ration bills.

  • PoS Machine Becomes a Trend

In last two years, the government had distributed 47,000 PoS (Point of Security) machines for swiping credit/debit cards all over Rajasthan. Even micro-ATMs were dispatched to rural areas. Unfortunately the villagers, who were habitual of dealing in cash, didn’t take interest in e-transactions until now.

As soon as the Centre announced demonetization, around 155 consumers used PoS in Rajasthan villages on November 9. After a month, the numbers escalated to 2,787 on December 5. As per state officers, these numbers could’ve increased, had banks provided enough liquidity to service providers.

e-mitra

  • E-Mitras ease Financial Pressure

45,000 e-Mitra centres present in state offer 325 digital services. They can be used to make online payments via kiosk, app and web. Now that government has turned vigilant, these centres have started receiving huge traffic since last one month.

  • e-Hospitals Coming Soon in a Village Near You

Like SMS (Sawai Man Singh), Bangar district hospital in Pali is likely to undergo complete digitalization in the coming years. A group of officers from NIC (National Informatics Centre) and C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) have recently visited the hospital to study existing facilities.

Both the Centre and the state governments aim to make it e-friendly and patient-friendly by setting up latest equipment. If all goes well, patients will be able to fix up appointments while sitting in their homes. They can check doctor availabilities and send their medical history to their physicians. Doctors can dispatch diagnostic test reports on mobile while patients can swipe medical card to record their health condition.

Recently, Raje shed some light on her elaborate plans for digitalization on Agenda Aajtak. The CM had braced up for cashless economy since 2006. Now, she plans to raise the stakes higher by roping in new technologies like soil cards, medical cards and loan cards. Hopefully, Rajasthan will come out as a perfect example of cashless economy in the country.

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