Respect Cash in Cashless Economy
Every Indian, be it Literate or Illiterate, should have been able to explain something about the word 'Cashless'. Thanks to euphoria created by our Prime Minister Modi around Digital India Dreams. Despite Modi, more to it like movie comedies with beggars carrying PoS machines, villages in media flash to first go cashless, (Demon)etisation pushing it hard enough. There has to be something out of it. Otherwise it would have never got such public fraternity right ? Barring with claims of so-called Stoppage of Terror funding and Counterfeit controlling, the most important outcomes genuinely are Black Money Regulation and Organizedness in economy. Latter meaning simply that whatever happens in economy, monetarily and financially, its completely visible for government. Does that sound sweet enough ? This is what a Common man's Financial murmuring been, 'Kodi kodiya adikaravana lam vutrunga !!' ('Leave those who loot in crores'). Yes, Cashless has all that ability to redistribute the concentrated wealth. Its definitely not an Ultimate tool but definitely one that is highly capable.
Starting from Barter system of exchanging goods and services against each other, Man evolved to Universal exchange tool called Paper Money. Colours may vary, Sizes may be small or large, Smiling National leaders can be different with Gandhi in Rupees or Washington In Dollars, Denominations can vary from 1 to 10000. But the function does by every penny never changes. You go to a shop, purchase a Biscuit Packet and pay money equal to what you see on it printed as MRP. I have no penny to pay other than this MRP nor the shopkeeper tendering any non-MRP penny. It works as simple as that. No wonder, a common man, be it a consumer or a business man, loves being part of this cash economy.
Now who is that Common man/woman ? India's economic status decides that. Atleast 40% of our population being poor, A farmer earning Rs. 6500 per month on an average, 90% population controlling less than 10% of total wealth, A street vendor selling jute bags, A domestic help woman in Mumbai, people living on ration shops, local kiranas of any kind, construction workers etc. All of these daily wagers are the most desperate economic groups relying on money as sole proprietor driving their economic fate. Now think of this scenario where one among those groups above do purchase the same Biscuit packet, but this time in cashless. Non-MRP pennies comes in guise of electronic transaction charges. They can be in any side - Consumer or Shop keeper - Profitability erosion remains same. Now what would they think - 'Why should I risk my economic fate further with this cashless hangover ? Why should I lose my penny each time in this cashless mode ? Thats a fair worry given their economic status.
Headlines: 'Demonetization is one of the watershed moments in Indian economy'. Lets bare it for stopping at publicizing as 'One of the' moment. One such claim is the sharp rise in proportion of Cashless transactions. Yes, of course it has aided it sufficiently and statistically. Selective amnesia is that it has missed the drop in cashless proportion and economy back to normal cash character now. You would have even heard of those 'First Cashless Villages' that have remonetized. Now the reasons for which they did so is the most interesting part - 'What are these charges and why should I pay it ?', 'We did the biggest mistake in going cashless considering our economic status'. These have regretfully further repelled the Indians from the domain 'Economy'. Government appeals to people, 'Do this for the growth of Indian economy'. But how much the measures have made them Inclusive within that growth ?
Cash becomes a 'Super Hero' actually in a cashless economy. I cant switch to cashless without ease in converting back and forth between cash and cashless. I need cash deposit machines as well as ATMs in proximity. I can only pay yearly-subscription based transaction charges. I can go completely cashless only above certain limit, say like 3 lakh per transaction value - Either I deposit or withdraw - as announced in last central budget. Idea is to make each and every transaction visible. There is neither necessity nor possibility to push eternal cashlessness. Surround some Blue whales operating beyond 3 lakh value. Its enough for feeding millions of small fishes struggling in their day-to-day life.
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| Why should he beg with PoS ?? |
Starting from Barter system of exchanging goods and services against each other, Man evolved to Universal exchange tool called Paper Money. Colours may vary, Sizes may be small or large, Smiling National leaders can be different with Gandhi in Rupees or Washington In Dollars, Denominations can vary from 1 to 10000. But the function does by every penny never changes. You go to a shop, purchase a Biscuit Packet and pay money equal to what you see on it printed as MRP. I have no penny to pay other than this MRP nor the shopkeeper tendering any non-MRP penny. It works as simple as that. No wonder, a common man, be it a consumer or a business man, loves being part of this cash economy.
Now who is that Common man/woman ? India's economic status decides that. Atleast 40% of our population being poor, A farmer earning Rs. 6500 per month on an average, 90% population controlling less than 10% of total wealth, A street vendor selling jute bags, A domestic help woman in Mumbai, people living on ration shops, local kiranas of any kind, construction workers etc. All of these daily wagers are the most desperate economic groups relying on money as sole proprietor driving their economic fate. Now think of this scenario where one among those groups above do purchase the same Biscuit packet, but this time in cashless. Non-MRP pennies comes in guise of electronic transaction charges. They can be in any side - Consumer or Shop keeper - Profitability erosion remains same. Now what would they think - 'Why should I risk my economic fate further with this cashless hangover ? Why should I lose my penny each time in this cashless mode ? Thats a fair worry given their economic status.
Headlines: 'Demonetization is one of the watershed moments in Indian economy'. Lets bare it for stopping at publicizing as 'One of the' moment. One such claim is the sharp rise in proportion of Cashless transactions. Yes, of course it has aided it sufficiently and statistically. Selective amnesia is that it has missed the drop in cashless proportion and economy back to normal cash character now. You would have even heard of those 'First Cashless Villages' that have remonetized. Now the reasons for which they did so is the most interesting part - 'What are these charges and why should I pay it ?', 'We did the biggest mistake in going cashless considering our economic status'. These have regretfully further repelled the Indians from the domain 'Economy'. Government appeals to people, 'Do this for the growth of Indian economy'. But how much the measures have made them Inclusive within that growth ?
Cash becomes a 'Super Hero' actually in a cashless economy. I cant switch to cashless without ease in converting back and forth between cash and cashless. I need cash deposit machines as well as ATMs in proximity. I can only pay yearly-subscription based transaction charges. I can go completely cashless only above certain limit, say like 3 lakh per transaction value - Either I deposit or withdraw - as announced in last central budget. Idea is to make each and every transaction visible. There is neither necessity nor possibility to push eternal cashlessness. Surround some Blue whales operating beyond 3 lakh value. Its enough for feeding millions of small fishes struggling in their day-to-day life.
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