The angoothachaap has been taken to a whole new orbit and become part of the country’s technological revolution in its new avatar. Apart from reflecting a leap towards digitalisation it is a push for inclusiveness like the Jan Dhan Yojana and several other schemes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The number of people who have mobile phones are far more than those who have an education. This is indeed a godsend for rural India where people are more comfortable with giving thumb impressions and have no access to Internet or debit and credit cards.
Since all that is needed is a thumb to operate the newly announced Aadhaar-based mobile payment application (Bhim) — which becomes an identity and a bank and it even enables the person to run a business — concerns have been expressed about the security aspects. This is being worked on. Hopefully in the next two weeks, the government will have the security aspects in place. The fears expressed about the security aspects in this rush to go digital are not irrational as cyber criminals have become very active. An ethical hacking group recently demonstrated how it could hack a bank within three hours, of course, with the permission of the bank. It is hoped that the government will take every precaution as it goes like a juggernaut towards a digital, cashless or rather less cash society. It must be mentioned that the Prime Minister or his team have been really clever as Bhim is something that will be seen as friendly to the backward and the dalit segments of society.
