Digital transactions of over Rs 4 lakh Cr done through UPI in Dec 2020: President

Over Rs 4 lakh crore worth of digital transactions were facilitated by UPI in December 2020 and more than 200 banks are linked to the UPI system, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Friday.

Addressing the joint sitting of Parliament on the first day of the Budget session, Kovind said the trinity of Jan Dhan Accounts, Aadhaar, and Mobile (JAM) has helped safeguard the rights of people and Rs 1.8 lakh crore have been saved from falling into wrong hands.

"While maintaining the requirement of 'Do Gaj ki Doori', the institutions and citizens of our country did not allow the pace of growth to slacken, by leveraging the power of Digital India. In December 2020, digital transactions of more than Rs 4,00,000 crore have been done through UPI," he said.

Kovind noted that Digilocker is being used as a paperless platform for more than 400 crore digital documents, and crores of citizens are availing more than 2,000 services through the Umang App.

Also, more than 3.5 lakh Common Service Centres are linking people in rural areas to government services.

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) has facilitated fund transfer of more than Rs 13 lakh crore to beneficiaries during the last six years, and over 41 crore Jan Dhan accounts were opened so that the poor may benefit from the banking system, Kovind said.

He pointed out that internet connectivity is as important as roads in the rural areas and that the government is implementing a mission to connect over six lakh villages of the country through optical fibre.

"My government has also initiated digitisation of medical services through the Rashtriya Digital Health Mission'. The citizens will be able to avail facilities like digital appointments, digital reports, as well as digital health records through this mission in the coming days," Kovind said.

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The President highlighted that a Production Linked Incentive Scheme worth about Rs 1.5 lakh crore is being implemented in 10 manufacturing sectors.

"Its impact is already visible in manufacturing of electronic goods as well as other products. As a result of this initiative, many large national and international companies have started their operations in India," he said adding that the government is also encouraging public participation in consumption of domestically manufactured goods.

The President stated that the country once had only two factories manufacturing mobiles, whereas today, India is the second-largest manufacturer of mobile phones.

'Vocal For Local' has become a people's movement in the country, he said, and added that efforts are being made to inculcate an emotional attachment for goods manufactured in India while at the same time ensuring that they are of high quality.

Kovind said India's own Navigation Satellite System 'Navik' is enhancing the prestige of the country, and benefitting thousands of fishermen.