The Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit at Kalady, near here, would soon make all its cash transactions digital.
The varsity Syndicate is considering a proposal to adopt digital payment for receipt of fee and other remittances from students and researchers. Registrar T.P. Raveendran told The Hindu on Wednesday that discussions were held with various banks as part of accepting fee and money remitted by the students online.
The move comes close on the heels of a directive by the University Grants Commission (UGC) asking all universities in the country to switch to digital payment.
A letter issued by the UGC to the Vice Chancellors of all affiliating universities on December 5 had pointed out that an important component of the campaign for promoting a digital economy is to ensure that every campus becomes completely cashless by adopting digital payment systems in all its receipts, payments and transactions on the campus. The initiative, titled Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan, aims at educating and training students in various modes of digital payments.
Mr. Raveendran said the Sanskrit university, accredited with ‘A’ grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, had already created separate accounts under the public financial management system for receiving funds provided by the UGC and agencies such as the Department Science and Technology and the Indian Council of Philosophical Research under the digital mode.
Among the institutional-level reforms proposed by the UGC, varsities have to accept all receipts online besides asking the vendors/service providers on the campuses to finalise their digital modes of payment. All shops/establishments on each campus have to go digital through PoS machines/mobile wallets/mobile banking.
