Nellore: The entire official machinery in Nellore has undertaken the task of making at least one village in each of its 46 mandals a cashless model for financial dealings. Officials, keeping their regular work aside, have launching a special campaign with the twin aims of creating financial digital literacy and of establishment financial digital infrastructure that can help contain growing unrest among people due to shortage of currency.

At the instance of the Collector R. Muthyala Raju, task force officials (District level officers posted to oversee implementation of the special programmes) are trying to convert villages as cashless transactions village while raising awareness among residents on a war footing. The move comes as a boon for the educated unemployed in the villages whose services are being utilised to carry out transactions with a promise to compensate suitably.


The Collector and the Joint Collector A. Md. Muthyala Raju have adopted two villages, Upputuru and Narayanareddypeta and are working overtime to motivate residents to opt for cashless transactions in association with bankers and bank agents. Joint Collector A. Md. Imtiaz, with the assistance of the officers of Andhra Pragati Grameena Bank (APGB) prompted vegetable vendors, milk and fruit vendors as well as grocery shop owners in the village to open their accounts seeded with Aadhaar numbers to enable locals to purchase their requirements through AEPS (Aadhaar Enabled Payment System).

While personally supervising the transactions on Monday, he expressed confidence that the target financial inclusion of all families for cashless transactions would be achieved soon. According to the Joint Collector, master trainers are being deputed to rural areas to create awareness on safe methods of cashless transactions among self help groups both in rural as well as in urban areas, school and college students, NREGS job cardholders, all pensioners, PDS shop owners and vendors.