According to the Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Rajvardan Rathore, who made the announcement, most transactions in the State will be cashless by this date, and that Goa is on the verge of becoming a model state in the country. That statement on Saturday evening, with just three working days to go for the month end, appeared to be a little premature.
While that statement came on Saturday, on Sunday, most ATMs across Panjim either had their shutters down or boards displaying signs that there is no cash. At the few ATMs that had cash, there were queues of people, hoping to get any little amount that the machine would dispense with. At markets, traders went about making cash transactions as usual, with few having read of the Union minister’s statement that appeared on newspapers that morning. One statement that most people would agree with is that people are reluctant to make the transition to plastic as they have been dependent on cash transactions for decades. The question, therefore, arising out of these statements by the Union Minister is, how does the government expect to turn Goa cashless in three days.
Apparently there is a plan and, as outlined by the Union minister, this plan is pretty simple. In the coming days banks will set up stalls at markets educating people on various apps that help in making cashless transactions and how these can be downloaded and used. Traders too will be taught on accepting payments through plastic or through online systems, while contractors will be tutored on how to make cashless payments to labourers and transporters. But can the change happen as quickly as has been announced? For it to work, people making payments and people accepting payments will have to change age old habits overnight.
India and Indians are very dependent on cash and the transition to plastic can never be easy or quick. Reducing the dependency on cash is a good idea, but it can’t be done in a hurry, especially not at a point of time when the sudden demonetisation that was announced earlier this month is leading to reduced money in the pockets of the common man. The State is also rushing towards the peak tourism season, and though the government authorities may feel that this is a good time to go cashless, a sudden change in the system from paper money to plastic could lead to more problems than easing the current cash crunch that the State is facing. The focus now should be on ensuring that there is enough money in banks and ATMs so that people are not turned away without having their purses filled.
The future is in going cashless, whereby there will be a system that depends more on plastic or online transactions. Some government services are already fully online, where even payments are made through the internet, as for instance the passport services. But not all services are. Even the recently introduced health insurance scheme of the government requires the personal presence of the person with a paper form filled out to register for the scheme. When the government itself is not prepared to go online fully, how can it expect the small traders and the people to do so?
The idea is good, the plan, however, needs restructuring and more time to be successfully implemented. A month-end deadline of going cashless is a populist announcement that cannot be met. It will require a lot more time before Goa goes cashless.
