Digital banking units to bolster financial system

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the digital banking initiative will further strengthen the financial system and help make the economy “future-ready”. He launched, via video conference, 75 digital banking units (DBUs) that are spread over 75 districts across the country, mainly in remote areas. 

The Indian banking system, the Prime Minister said, has gone beyond just financial transactions and has emerged as a medium of ‘good governance’ and ‘better service delivery’.

“Digital economy today is a great strength of our economy, of our start-up world, of Make in India and of self-reliant India,” he said. 

Leveraging technological prowess to deliver public goods has been the hallmark of this government, and this has also helped in eliminating the digital divide as well as corruption, the Prime Minister said. The government has transferred ₹25 trillion directly to beneficiaries via the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme. Another instalment of support to farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme will be transferred on Monday. Under this, farmers get ₹6,000 per year in three equal instalments. 

He also attributed India’s sustained economic growth to the efforts of the BJP government to replace pre-2014 ‘phone banking’ with ‘digital banking’.