Cashless campaign gets a push in Srikakulam

Students drawn from engineering and other colleges reach out to villagers

Students helping a man in making a cashless transaction near Etcherla in Srikakulam district. —

Engineering students of Srikakulam district have taken the lead in training rural people in carrying out cashless transactions through their mobile phones.

Many rural people who use smartphones are downloading relevant applications such as SBI buddy and other e-wallets with the help of the students.

Students of Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering visited Etcherla, SM Puram and other villages to create awareness about cashless transactions. They told the villagers that the new system might look complicated, but once they get used to it they can carry out their day-to-day transactions in a hassle-free manner. College principal M. Govinda Raju told

The Hindu that students have a vital role to play in achieving the goal of the government.

Training programme

“In line with the directive of District Collector P. Lakshmi Narasimham, we conducted a training programme for the students. We identified active persons and sent them to different villages. The process will continue for a couple of months. The college will reward the students who help more number of villagers,” he added.

Aditya Institute of Technology and Management (AITAM) director V.V. Nageswara Rao said that the college has organised more than 10 rallies in Tekkali and Kotabommali mandals to explain the benefits of cashless transactions. “Many villagers are now using WhatsApp and other applications very easily. So, it is not a big task to understand online transactions. Moreover, it saves their valuable time since bank branches are always located in faraway places in rural areas,” he added.Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Vice-Chancellor Miryala Chandraiah and Registrar Gunta Tulasi Rao said that more than 220 students of MBA, M.Com. and other courses were selected for master training as per the guidelines of Ministry of Human Resources Development. “Different batches of students will go villages of all the 38 mandals from December 21 to help all the people to download relevant applications and explain benefits of online transactions,” he added.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development District Development Manager M.D. Vasudevan said the cashless transactions campaign has evoked a good response in the tribal belt also. “Digital literacy is need of the hour,” he said.