The Modi Government’s push towards digital payments or less cash transactions, can only be welcomed. In the coming months, the benefits will be evident
This is competitive and cooperative or CoCo Federalism at its best. Even while competing with other States, mostly BJP-ruled, in introducing reforms for transition to a digital and less cash economy, Assam on Monday provided a fine example of cooperative federalism by introducing a slew of incentives in its bid to realise the Prime Minister vision. Assam's Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced an 18-Point Incentives package to promote use of less cash and adoption of digital payment modes.
This was a week after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis paid online for the oranges he bought at Nagpur. Earlier, Goa, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh also introduced programmes to promote digital payments. All these pronouncements by States support the Union Government's push on digital economic transition. Assam's announcements seemingly are most comprehensive and designed to incentivise and touch upon lives of almost all strata of society.
“I am glad to announce that the Assam Government has introduced a special 18-Point Incentive Programme for promotion of less cash economy in keeping with the Prime Minister's vision. We encourage all to ‘Pay Digitally to Pay less’ and make Assam a front-ranking State in embracing this historic transition to a digital and less cash economy”, Sarma said.
Incidentally, Assam was the first State in the country to have cleared the adoption of the Goods and Services Tax Bill. The incentives programme displays the State's progressive stance and its willingness to aggressively pursue agenda set by the Prime Minister. “I am seeking support of all to make this transition possible”, said Sarma, who also holds charge of Health, Education and Tourism, and is hugely popular as a people's politician.
Some of the incentives for digital payments include 0.75 per cent discount on petrol and diesel in addition to the 0.75 per cent announced earlier by oil PSUs; 10 per cent discounts on user charges above Rs 500 bill in hospitals; discounts on property tax and trade licence fee; award to panchayats, farmers, DCs, and rural bank branches for promoting digital transactions; five rupees per ticket to cinema owners for online sale of tickets; cash incentive of five lakh rupees for upto 10 colleges for 100 per cent digital receipts and payments; exemption of entry tax for POS machines, VSAT dish antenna, mobile Wifi etc, till March 31.
Earlier, Haryana had constituted an eight-member committee headed by its Chief Secretary for the promotion of digital payments in the State, to oversee the implementation and resolve policy issues. The Chief Minister recently also asked Government employees to make at least one digital transaction in a week, while Deputy Commissioners were advised to organise various awareness camps.
Madhya Pradesh has also constituted a five-member committee to prepare a roadmap for the State Government to switch over to a cashless system within a stipulated period of time. The State has also collaborated with the State Bank of India to make the State cashless by rolling out the Digital India drive and promoting digital literacy. Goa Tourism Development Corporation has shifted a majority of its services on digital payment facilities. Many other States will too shall join in this drive.
It may not be out of context to say that Prime Minister Modi has provided a new impetus to the idea of competitive and cooperative federalism. The efforts to promote digital payments display a fine example of both types of federalism in practice.
Even as states are competing with each other in promoting less cash and digital economy, they are cooperating with the Union Government in realising the Prime Minister’s vision in transforming India into a digital-enabled economy. The idea of cooperative federalism — which received a big push with NITI Aayog, which replaced the one-way flow of policy with the participation of States in policy formulation — gets yet another boost through this competition of States in migrating to digital economy.
CoCo Federalism, dig payment and new discourse on less cash bring a whiff of new freshness into India, akin to achche din. Isn't itIJ
(The writer is a strategic communications professional)