How not to usher in a cashless economy

The NDA government has completed three years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Three years is a long enough time to assess the initiatives of the government and judge whether the measures implemented were well-thought-out or populist ones devoid of serious thinking. The government’s most talked about measure was the discontinuation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes for three stated objectives — unearthing black money, eliminating counterfeit money and shifting to a cashless economy through digital transactions.

Many analysts have assessed the government’s success in regard to the first two objectives. However, there are not many comprehensive