NEW DELHI: M Venkaiah Naidu, who holds the dual charge of the ministries of information & broadcasting, and urban development and housing & urban poverty alleviation, yesterday urged officials in both the ministries to facilitate cashless economy and encourage digital and online transactions.

Addressing the officers regarding the steps being taken by the government, he said the attempt was to prevent delays through seamless transactions and end the menace of corruption and black money.

Naidu mentioned that the government’s JAM (Jan Dhan, AADHAR & Mobile) initiative would also facilitate this transformation. In this context, he reiterated the prime minister’s JAM vision which would ensure maximum penetration of technology among the masses and maximum empowerment for the poor.

Naidu urged all officers to provide counselling to their staff to move and adapt to a cashless and digital transactions reducing the role of physical money in day-to-day transactions. This exercise could also be conducted at the homes by officers and staff with the people associated in their day to day life as part of social responsibility. The minister also mentioned few platforms available for digital transactions including Unified Payment Interface and Mobile Wallets.

Minister of state for information & broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore, ministry secretary Ajay Mittal, urban development secretary Rajiv Gauba, housing and urban poverty secretary Dr. Nandita Chatterjee, senior officers from the ministries, were also present in the meeting held at Vigyan Bhawan, NewDelhi.

A presentation on “Government – Citizen Transactions towards less cash economy including different platforms and methods of transaction" was also made by Team NITI Ayog. The presentation was followed by a Question & Answer session, where doubts were cleared and queries answered.