How government's new TV channel 'DigiShala' will help raise digital literacy in rural India
After trying to goad urban consumers through incentives on digital transactions, the government on Friday launched a free-to-air TV channel — DigiShala — to educate and make people in rural and semi-rural areas aware about how to transact in cashless modes of payment.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology (IT) (MeitY) & Law, said the new TV channel will be broadcast on DD free-DTH service and promote its campaign Digi Dhav Abhiyan to its two crore viewers across the country.
This campaign will promote digital literacy by educating citizens, traders, merchants and other business operators in these area on various digital payment modes and training them on how to download, install and transact without cash on digital and electronic devices like phones, computers, point of sale (PoS) machines, etc.
The minister said cashless transactions in the country has already risen on an average by around 400 per cent to 1,000 per cent since November 8, when the government banned the use of old Rs500 and Rs1000 notes.He believes DigiShala will further accelerate the switch over from cash to digital.
"All the modes of digital payment are showing enormous rise with an average of 400 per cent to 1000 per cent. If it is growing so fast without education then with education through DigiShala, you can imagine the acceleration in its pace," he said.
Furnishing information on the growth of digital transaction since November 8 to December 7, Prasad said payments through e-wallet had jumped from 17 lakh transactions per day to 63 lakh transactions per day with a rise in value from Rs 52 crore to Rs 191 crore.
During the same period, use of Rupay cards climbed from 3.85 lakh transactions per day to 16 lakh transactions per day. In terms of value, it grew over 500 per cent from Rs 39.17 crore per day to Rs 236 crore per day.