Digital India – Digital Payments: All panchayats across the country will compulsorily use digital payment services for developmental work and revenue collection from this Independence Day and will be declared UPI (Unified Payment Interface) users. The Panchayati Raj Ministry gave this information in a letter. In a letter to states and union territories, the ministry said states should “declare and inaugurate” UPI-enabled panchayats in the presence of important dignitaries like chief ministers, MPs and MLAs.
Panchayati Raj Ministry Secretary Sunil Kumar informed that around 98 percent panchayats have already started UPI-based payments. Around Rs 1.5 lakh crore has been disbursed through the Public Financial Management System (PMFS), Kumar said. Now payments to panchayats will be done digitally. Check and cash payments have almost stopped. He said, now it has reached almost everywhere. We have already covered about 98 percent panchayats.
Panchayats have been asked to hold meetings with service providers and ‘vendors’ on June 30. The ministry shared the list containing details of officials and employees of UPI platforms like Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, Bhim, Mobikwik, WhatsApp Pay, Amazon Pay and Bharat Pay. According to the ministry’s guidelines, panchayats have to choose a suitable service provider by July 15 and name the ‘vendor’ by July 30.
Panchayats have been asked to select a single ‘Vendor’ covering the entire area. It is also recommended to create a centralized dashboard to monitor transactions in real time. According to a PTI-Bhasha report, training camps for officers will be organized at the district and block levels.
Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Kapil Moreshwar Patil said that the introduction of digital transactions will help curb corruption. He said, now most of the panchayats are doing digital transactions. This will help in curbing corruption. According to government statistics, in January 2023 alone, 806.3 crore transactions worth Rs 12.98 lakh crore were made through ‘BHIM’. About 50 percent of these transactions took place in villages and surrounding areas.
