Ibrahimpur , the sleepy village about 125 km from Hyderabad officially became the first hamlet in south India to go cashless. Except for school-going children, about 1,200 villagers belonging 370 families – were given debit cards.This is part of Siddipet. Ibrahimpur is represented by Major irrigation minister T Harish Rao.
“There are no cash transactions in the village now. While 70% of them already have their bank accounts, in the last one month the village higher ups have ensured that all the remaining families have opened their accounts in Andhra Bank branch at the nearby Nararayanraopet village.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s November 8 surprise move to ban Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 banknotes resulted in an acute scarcity of cash, especially across the countryside and millions have had to stand in serpentine queues to withdraw money from banks and ATMs.
The demonetisation move, Modi said, was a part of his government’s efforts to purge illegal money from the market and cull counterfeit currency. It is also aimed at fast-tracking the country towards a digital, cashless economy nudging more and more Indians to use internet and mobile banking and open bank accounts.
All the shops in the village, including provision stores, fertiliser shop, fair price shop, have been provided with point of sale (PoS) machines, where villagers can swipe their cards to buy goods for their daily requirements.
Most of the villagers own smartphones and have downloaded the Andhra Bank’s mobile wallet.
However, villagers say they sometimes face the problem of network connectivity and as a result, the swiping machines stop accepting the transactions.
To overcome this problem, the village administration has decided to provide free wi-fi connectivity to the entire village shortly. In spite of getting used to cashless transactions in the last one week, some villagers desperately need money. “
Harish Rao the minister has asked bank authorities to make an arrangement to disburse cash to villagers in emergency situations by using debit cards.
The village also has a drinking water dispensing machine that can be used by swiping smart cards. “All the villagers have been provided with Any Time Water (ATW) cards and all that they have to do is to swipe it in the equipment and they will get 20 litres of water at a time.
