HRD Ministry bats for cashless education campus

Emphasising that technology can be leveraged to bring financial digital literacy and a step forward toward digital economy, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday appealed to higher education institutes to develop cashless campuses.

Launching the Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan (VISAKA) here, the minister called upon the faculty and young students to come forward to encourage, create awareness and motivate all people around them to use a digitally enabled cashless economic system for transfer of funds.

"The huge digital transformation that India is undergoing at the moment, will bring greater transparency, in eradication of black money and corruption. You will work hard but someone tomorrow may get a job through corruption," Javadekar said while video conferencing with all higher education institutions.

He said that youth should not only witness the change but also proactively participate in it by becoming agents of change and asserted that technology can be leveraged to bring financial digital literacy and a step forward toward digital economy.

The minister appealed higher education institutes not to receive fee/fines/deposits or make any payments like wages/salaries/vendor payments in cash and develop a cashless campus.

Citing different modes of digital payment, Javadekar said that these digital platforms are easy to use, convenient, secure and anytime accessible by anyone anywhere.

The VISAKA campaign would be first carried out in 5,000 cities of India where bulk of cash transactions take place, with educational institutions acting as "engines" of the transformation effort.

The campaign will involve major knowledge institutions like the IITs, NITs, IIITs, and central universities and colleges with students, faculty and staff playing the role of transforming their immediate day to day living environment into a cashless mode.

About 36,000 knowledge institutions are involved in this national exercise.

--IANS

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