HYDERABAD: After directing universities and affiliated colleges to go for cashless functioning, the University Grants Commission (UGC), upon directions from the HRD Ministry, has decided to involve students from higher educational institutions in a promotion campaign.
Accordingly Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan (Visaka) will be taken up all over the country from December 12 to January 12. Also as part of institutional reforms, all shops and establishments in the campus will have to go digital by using PoS machines or m-Wallets or mobile banking etc.
As part of the Visaka campaign, student volunteers will be identified and they will be given training on digital payment system by bank staff and teachers. This will be done from December 10 to 19.
From December 20 onwards, students will take up the awareness campaign in households and establishments near their institutions. This drive will last for nearly three weeks.
After January 12, students and their mentors should upload photographs and prog-ress reports of their campaign on www.mhrd.gov.in/visaka.
According to UGC secretary Prof.Jaspal S.Sandhu, participation of students from higher educational institutions is highly relevant because they would be the main beneficiaries of a digital economy-free of corruption, black money.
The NSS and NCC units in each institution were also told to identify one nearby mandi or market to transform it into a digital market place, where all shops, establishments and traders are enabled with digital payment systems.
