Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar introduced two members of his domestic staff, whom he has given prepaid SBI bearer cards, to journalists on Wednesday, saying that they would now be making cashless purchases of articles of daily use.
“I am giving two cards to two members of my domestic staff, Deepak and Manoj. I have debited Rs. 10,000 today from my account to these cards. Take prepaid cards on your account and give it to family members,” Mr. Javadekar said, as the staff displayed the cards.
“Earlier, I used to withdraw the money every month to pay them. Now, I have gone cashless by giving them prepaid cards for purchases,” the Minister said.
The MHRD has for some weeks been looking at a transition to a digital economy as a key priority, even asking students to volunteer to spread awareness about a digital economy.
The Ministry has also asked directors of higher education institutions to award credits for project work to student volunteers. About 1.5 lakh volunteers have already registered to help in the Centre’s drive to go digital in transactions, Mr. Javadekar said.
He commended the Ministry for bagging the highest platinum award in the government’s Digital India Award and for the Ministry's website being adjudged one of the best ones by the Government of India.
