Hyderabad: The main purpose of the demonetisation drive appears to be aimed at nudging the people to go cashless.
“I would like to know from the Prime Minister the names of any countries he may think of where people have deposited their money in banks but are not allowed to withdraw their money,” former prime minister Manmohan Singh had asked Mr Modi in the Rajya Sabha.
In an apparent reference, the Prime Minister said, “Everyone has right to use his or her money. And no one stops them. (But) it is not necessary you should have cash as one can spend using digital technology also.”
“Shopping through mobile is simple just like sending a Whatsapp message,” Mr Modi said, stressing on promoting use of technology in transactions to bring transparency. He said the number of mobiles is four times the number of families and people should use their mobiles to make payments.
“You can download mobile applications provided by banks on your phones. And I want to urge political leaders, teachers, youth to give training to people on mobile banking,” he said. NPCI recently launched UPI to promote seamless cashless transactions.
