Digital India aims to change our lives, governance: Jaitley

Says in the next few years, we'll see more of banking, payment banking and the like being done through the internet

Reeling off impressive figures to substantiate how digital technology facilitated the government's efforts on financial inclusion, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said 'Digital India' was aimed to "change our lives" and the way India governs itself.

"Our financial inclusion programme is the largest in the world. In less than five months, we have opened 160 million 'Jan Dhan' accounts. The direct benefit transfer scheme has been extended to 130 million people in a few months," Jaitley said here at the launch of Digital India programme by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"As many as 110 million new insurance policies were issued in less than five weeks...that's how technology has been used. Through Digital India, we want to change our lives and way of governance," the finance minister said.
 

 

"In the next few years, we'll see more of banking, payment banking and the like being done through the internet," he added.

Pointing out that the initiative launched on Wednesday was part of a series of programmes intended to give a "new direction to the country", Jaitley said while last week saw launch of 'Smart Cities Mission', 'Skill India' educational initiative would be unveiled next week.