India's first digital village

NO NOTE BAN BLUES IN COUNTRY’S 1ST DIGITAL VILLAGE

Saturday, 19 November 2016 | Nayan Dave | GANDHINAGAR

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Unlike in many parts of the country, residents of India’s first ‘Digital Village’ — Akodara in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home State Gujarat are facing cash crunch post demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations currency notes as all financial transactions above Rs 10 are being done on-line here since past couple of years.

Situated just 50 km from PM Modi’s birthplace Vadnagar in Northern Gujarat, Akodara came to limelight nationally as India’s first digital village in July 2015 after the Prime Minister floated Digital India initiative. The village with a population of a little over 1,500 persons is completely Wi-Fi and every villager above 18 years in age has a bank account. As a result of it there are no serpentine queues near the bank or ATM and no lines of worry on the foreheads of Akodara dwellers.

In fact even before the launching of Digital India initiative, the villagers are using Rupay debit card for financial transactions. They are accustomed to use plastic currency and mobile banking for their routine purchases like groceries and even vegetables. Here villagers don’t need to carry cash with them, instead they do mobile banking transactions using Gujarati language as the medium of communication.

“For any financial transaction of over Rs 10, we don’t need cash. We simply use mobile banking and transfer the money to buy anything. Villagers even get online transfers of their earnings in their bank accounts directly when they sell milk to the local dairy,” says Piyush Patel, resident of the village.

As Akodara villagers learnt to use mobile banking application couple of years back and paying their electricity, mobile and other bills on-line they don’t require cash for routine financial transactions. Even those who don’t use smart phone, they simply use SMS to carry out transactions, he adds.

“In case I want to buy two packets of wafers for my children from provision store. Instead of paying the shopkeeper Rs 20 from his pocket, he uses his smart phone,” says 30-year-old Vipul Patel, adding that even shopkeepers are used to such on-line transactions and they instantly confirm payment and give wafers or whatever customers want to buy.

The village having Wi-Fi connectivity is situated at a distance of 90 km from Ahmedabad. A digital display has been installed at a crossroads in which real-time prices of agro commodities of all major Gujarat Mandies (agriculture produce markets) are being displayed. Before selling their products farmers of this tiny village make it a point to confirm prices of various Mandies. The village has also its website — akodara-digitalvillage.in.

Unlike most villages in the country, teachers in the only school here don’t take attendance of their students traditionally by shouting their names. Before entering inside their classes they put their thumbs on biometric attendance machine. It is not just enough, all the classes of the school is equipped with digital boards. Local Gram Panchayat has also made an arrangement that parents can monitor their children’s activities sitting at their homes or working place. Students are using tablets and exchange study material digitally!

Not only ‘Digital India’, the village situated in Sabarkantha district has also taken lead in PM Modi’s other cleanliness drive. One can see neat and clean streets and well planned system for the disposal of solid waste. Here India’s first animal hostel was initiated. People keep their cattle at the hostel unlike other traditional villages where domestic animals are kept in the backyard of home.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/no-note-ban-blues-in-countrys-1st-digital-village.html