Finance Minister Nirmala ji, my other Cabinet colleagues, the RBI Governor, Secretaries of various Ministries, Chief Ministers from the different states of the country, the Ministers who are guiding this programme, economists, all the financial experts, experts from the banking sector, other dignitaries, ladies and gentlemen!

Heartiest congratulations to all the countrymen on the occasion of the launch of 75 Digital Banking Units. Today the country is once again witnessing the potential of Digital India. Today 75 digital banking units are coming up in the 75 districts of the country. I congratulate all the people associated with this mission, our banking sector as well as the RBI.

Friends,

Digital Banking Units are another major step towards making the lives of the common man of India easier, the objective towards which the country has already been moving. This is one such special banking system which will work to provide maximum services with 'Minimum Digital Infrastructure'. These services will be free of paperwork and hassle, and will be easier than ever before. That is, it will not only provide convenience but also a strong digital banking security. In a village or a small town, when a person avails the services of a digital banking unit, everything from sending money to taking loans will become easy online. Just imagine! There was a time when a villager or a poor person had to struggle for basic banking services. This used to be a great hassle for such people. But today they will be happy and excited to experience this change.

Friends,

The goal of our government is to empower the common man of India and to make him powerful. Therefore, we made policies keeping in mind the people in the lowest strata of the society. And the whole government is following the path of ensuring convenience and progress to the people. We worked on two things together. First- reforming the banking system, strengthening it and bringing transparency within it; and second- financial inclusion. Earlier when there were intellectual seminars, great scholars used to discuss the banking system, the economy and the poor. They used to talk of financial inclusion, but the arrangements and facilities were limited to ideas only. The systems were not developed for this revolutionary work i.e. for financial inclusion. Earlier it was thought that the poor themselves would go to the bank and would be connected to the banking system. But we changed this practice. We decided that the bank and its facilities would be taken to the homes of the poor. For this we had to first reduce the distance between the poor and the banks. Therefore, br not only reduced the physical distance but also the psychological of which was the biggest hurdle. We have given top priority to make banking services reach every doorstep even in the far flung areas. Today more than 99 percent of the villages in India have some or the other bank branch, banking outlet or a Bank Mitra or a banking correspondent within 5 kms. Apart from this, the vast network of post offices in the country have also become a part of the mainstream banking through India Post Bank. Today, the number of bank branches in the country for every 100,000 adult population is more than that of countries like Germany, China and South Africa.

Friends,

We are working hard day and night with a resolve to raise the standard of living of the common man. Our resolve is to improve the systems and to bring transparency. Our resolve is to reach the poorest of the poor. When we started the Jan Dhan campaign, some people protested saying - 'what will the poor do with bank accounts' ? Even many experts in this field were not able to comprehend the importance of this campaign. But the power of a bank account is being witnessed by the whole country today. The ordinary citizen of my country is experiencing it. Because of bank accounts, we have given insurance coverage to the poor at a very low premium. After connecting them with the bank accounts, the poor are now able to get loans without any guarantee. Now the subsidy money is reaching directly into the bank accounts of the poor beneficiaries. It is only through bank accounts that the poor are able to build houses, toilets and get gas subsidies as the money given is directly flowing into their accounts. Farmers could also avail all the assistance from the various government schemes due to their bank accounts as the money could easily reach them. And during the period of corona pandemic, the money was sent directly to the bank accounts of the poor, mothers and sisters. It was because of the bank accounts that the Svanidhi scheme could be started for our street vendors. But that was the time when even the developed countries were facing difficulties in this kind of work. You must have heard that a short while back the IMF has lauded India's digital banking infrastructure. The credit for this goes to the poor of India, the farmers of India and the labourers of India, who adopted new technologies with courage and understanding and have made it a part of their lives.

Friends,

When financial partnerships are combined with digital partnerships, a whole new world of possibilities opens up. UPI is the best example and India is proud of it. UPI is the world's first technology of its kind. But in India you can see it everywhere, from a city to a village, from showrooms to vegetable carts. Besides UPI, now the power of 'Rupay Card' is also in the hands of the common man of the country. There was a time when credit or debit cards were considered to be an elite system. It was associated with the rich and elite class of the society. The cards used to be foreign; there were very few people who used them; they were used only in some select places. But, today in India more than 70 crore RuPay cards are with the common man. Today India's indigenous RuPay card is being accepted across the world. This combination of technology and economy is giving great power to the dignity of the poor and the middle class on the one hand and eliminating the digital divide of the country on the other.

Friends,

JAM i.e. Triple power of Jan Dhan, Aadhar and Mobile together has taken care of another major disease plaguing the country and the disease is corruption. The money that was released by the government would disappear by the time it reached the poor. But, now through Direct Benefit Transfer i.e. DBT, the money reaches the account of the person for whom the money was released and that too instantly. So far more than 25 lakh crore rupees have been transferred under different schemes through DBT. Similarly tomorrow also, I am going to send another installment of Rs 2000 to crores of farmers of the country.

Brothers & Sisters,

Today the whole world is appreciating this DBT and digital power of India. We are looking at it today as a global model. The World Bank has even gone so far to declare that India has become a leader in ensuring social security through digitization. Even the most successful people around the world in terms of technology or the masters of technology in the world are appreciating this system of India a lot! They too are surprised by its success.

Brothers Sisters

Just imagine! When digital participation and economic participation have so much power individually, how far can we take our country by using 100 percent potential of both? Therefore, today FinTech is at the heart of India's policies and efforts, And is guiding the future of our country. The Digital Banking units will further enhance this capability of FinTech. If Jan Dhan accounts had laid the foundation stone of financial inclusion in the country, then FinTech would form the basis of financial revolution.

Friends,

Recently, the Indian government has also announced the launch of a digital currency based on blockchain technology. Be it digital currency of the future, or digital transactions in today's time, many important dimensions are associated with them besides economy. For example, the money spent on printing currency can be saved by the country. We import paper and ink from abroad for printing currency. We can save money even on these things by turning towards the digital economy. I considered this to be a huge contribution of the banking sector of India and RBI in a self-reliant India. At the same time, reducing the consumption of paper will also have a huge benefit to the environment.

Friends,

Banking today has gone beyond financial transactions and has also become a medium for offering 'Good Governance' and 'Better Service Delivery'. Today this system has given rise to immense possibilities of growth for the private sector and small scale industries as well. Today, there is hardly any field or sector in India where product and service delivery is not happening through technology while creating a new startup ecosystem. You see, today if you want honey from Bengal, or bamboo products from Assam, or herbs from Kerala, or if you want to order something from a local restaurant, or you need to know about the law or want some advice on health, everything is possible online. Even a young man in the village can attend a class of a teacher living in the city! Digital India has made everything possible. We could not even have imagined this scenario a few years back.

Friends,

Digital economy today is a huge strength of our economy, our startup world, Make in India and a self-reliant India. Today our small industries, MSMEs, are also participating in government tenders through a system like GEM. They are getting new business opportunities. So far, orders worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore have been placed on GEM. You can imagine the advantage it is bringing to the local economy of the country and to the mission of 'Vocal for Local'. Many more new opportunities will now arise in this direction through Digital Banking Units. We will have to make innovations in this direction. And with new thinking, we must welcome new opportunities.

Friends,

The state of development of a country's economy is directly related to the strength of its banking system. Today India's economy is moving forward ceaselessly. This is becoming possible because in these 8 years the country has shifted from the pre-2014 phone banking system to the current digital Banking system. You might remember the Phone banking system before 2014! Banks used to get phone calls from higher authorities to decide their functioning. This 'phone banking' politics had made the banks unsafe, ruined the system and had made the country's economy unsafe too. It had sown the seeds of major scams. We would constantly hear about scams in the news. But now with digital banking everything is going on in a transparent manner. We worked towards bringing transparency in the identification of NPAs. Lakhs of crores of rupees came back into the banking system. We recapitalized banks, took action against willful defaulters and reformed the Prevention of Corruption Act. The resolution of NPA related issues was expedited with the help of IBC. We also promoted the use of technology and analytics for loans, so that a transparent and scientific system could be created. Due to policy paralysis, important decisions like merger of banks were not taken. The country has taken those issues seriously. Today decisions and steps are being taken and the results are before us. The world is appreciating us. A new self-driven mechanism is now being created for the banking system through new systems like digital banking units and the innovative use of FinTech. On one hand there is autonomy for the consumers while on the other hand there is convenience and transparency for the banks. The stakeholders should work in the direction of solving questions like - 'how to make such arrangements more comprehensive? How to take it forward on a large scale?' All our banks should aim to connect as many people as possible with digital systems.

I want to make a request particularly to the people of the banking sector, the small businessmen and traders across villages who are connected with banks. Since we are celebrating the 'Azadi Ka AmritKaal', I hope you will fulfil this request for the country. Can our banks and our small traders do something together? If at least 100 merchants from your bank branch's commanding area can be connected to your bank with a system of fully digital transactions or 100% digital transactions, you can build the foundation of a massive revolution!

Brothers & Sisters,

This could be a wonderful beginning for the country. I am simply making a request to you. No one can make any law or rules for this. And when you see the benefit of it, then I won't have to convince anyone to increase that number from 100 to 200.

Friends,

Each branch should aim to connect 100 merchants with it. The reason for the success of Jan Dhan accounts today are our bank staff and employees in the lower positions and their hard work. They used to visit the huts of the poor. They even worked on weekends. Jan Dhan became successful because of that. The country is witnessing the strength of the bank workers who made Jan Dhan successful. If today the bank workers and managers can motivate, educate and connect 100 merchants within their command area with their bank branch, you will be leading a massive revolution. I am sure, this beginning will take our banking system and economy to a point where we are future ready, and our banking system will have the capability to lead the global economy. With best wishes, I extend my heartiest congratulations to the Finance Minister of India, the Ministry of Finance, our RBI Governor, the team of RBI and all the people, the employees associated with our banking sector because you have presented a valuable gift to the country! And dedicating this priceless gift of 75 digital banking units to the people of the country before Diwali and on the 75 years of independence is a wonderful coincidence! Best wishes, thanks a lot!

DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of PM’s speech. Original speech was delivered in Hindi.

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DS/VJ/IG/AK