Additional Chief Secretary Finance Department addresses one-day workshop Digital Payments under Government of India ‘Digital India Mission’ at SKICC

SRINAGAR : Additional Chief Secretary Finance Department, Atal Dulloo today attended a day-long workshop on Digital Payments under Government of India ‘Digital India Mission’ organized by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Government of India and Finance Department, J&K Government here at SKICC.

Addressing the participants, Financial Commissioner Finance (Additional Chief Secretary), Atal Dulloo, who was also the chief guest on the occasion, said that the country has moved far ahead in Digital Payments and J&K too is gaining pace towards achieving financial inclusion.

He said that Digital India Mission has a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy with ‘Faceless, Cashless and Contactless transactions among the people and other partners of the economy.

He said that India is on the path of digital revolution and there is an increased degree of collaboration among various agencies like fintech players, payment service providers and banks.

While commenting on the increased transactions during COVID-19 Pandemic, Dulloo said the pandemic has presented a massive opportunity for the digital payment industry to flourish.

Terming the digital mode of transaction as the most convenient way of transaction, he said there is more transparency, accountability besides secrecy and privacy during digital payments.

He further highlighted the role of digital payments and said that the main goal is financial inclusion and economic growth of people, especially for economically deprived people. He added that in this regard several measures have been taken by the Government of India where there is vast scope for everyone and will benefit all.

Director General Budget, MY Itoo; Director General Audit & Inspection, Fayaz Ahmad Lone; Commissioner State Taxes Department, Showkat Aijaz Bhat; State Nodal Officer (NPCI) J&K, Vikas Sirohi, senior officers from Finance Department, representatives from various departments, J&K Bank officers, representatives of Trade Bodies and other concerned participated in the one-day workshop.

Earlier giving an overview of the workshop, Director General Budget, MY Itoo while addressing the participants said J&K is on reformative path from past few years while it has successfully implemented PaySys, EMPOWERMENT and other digital payment systems in the Union Territory

While delivering a detailed presentation over Digital Payments, State Nodal Officer (NPCI) J&K, Vikas Sirohi underlined the role of NPCI while developing digital payment platforms viz UPI, IMPS, RuPay, NACH, NETC, CTS, AePS, BHIM, *99# etc.

He gave detailed information of different modes of electronic transfer of funds and also highlighted various benefits and advantages of cashless transactions.

Besides, Sirohi highlighted the role of digital payments like benefits of transactions to citizens and other stakeholders, regulatory push for adoption of technology and automation among other things.

He also talked about the digital payment initiatives being taken in J&K which include smart card and 100 percent digitalization in smart cities (Jammu and Srinagar); RuPay NCMC card and UPI-QR in transport for acceptance of fares; DBT and Non-DBT transactions processing via NACH; account validation and Aadhaar lookup services for departments; UPI and RuPay option for all online payments acceptance by the government departments among 12 initiatives.

During the workshop several sessions were held where various presentations were delivered with respect to the digital payment system and was moderated by Joint Director Budget, Shafat Yehya.

During the different sessions several discussions and deliberation were also held where resource persons replied to queries of the participants.