Even as the Union Government is pushing for a cashless economy through promotion of digital payments among citizens, Odisha is unlikely to contribute much in this regard as it has a very low access to internet.
When Union Minister Finance Arun Jaitley is striving seriously to reduce cash payments and switch to digital mode, Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha has urged the Odisha Government for shifting payment-in-cash system to no-cash/less-cash transactions.
“After demonetisation, this is the right moment to adopt digital payments, and hence all State Governments should take necessary steps in this direction,” Sinha said.
Presently, only 20 per cent of the Indian economy is cashless, and the vision is to move to over 50 per cent in the next couple of years.
State Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey participating in the deliberations urged Sinha to facilitate more and more internet penetration for Odisha if cashless payment is to be made a success in the State, said sources.
According to 2011 Census Report, of the total 96, 61,085 households surveyed in Odisha, a very dismal number of 4, 92,715 people have access to computers and only 1, 35, 255 people have access to internet.
According to officials, internet penetration is growing at a very poor speed in Odisha.
A recent survey revealed that users in northern and southern parts of the country mostly use internet for online video and voice calling to stay in touch with family members residing abroad.
In the south, where literacy rates are higher, online job portals and education-related search activities are prevalent, said the report.
All southern States and four northern States, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, have the highest internet penetration, the report added.
However in eastern region, while Bihar has 9 per cent internet penetration, Odisha has 10 per cent, West Bengal 11 per cent and Assam 12 per cent.
The Odisha Government is not receiving much support from the Digital Initiative of the Union Government, said officials.
While the BSNl coverage is not satisfactory, the State Government has raised the point in various forums, including the Inter State Council Meet, recently.