NITI CEO Amitabh Kant writes to district collectors to assemble “digital army” and “lead the change” for a digital payments economy

ALMOST a month after demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes and the subsequent scarcity of new notes, the Central government has begun a massive campaign under which district administrations are being incentivized to educate all citizens for expeditious transition into digital payments economy. The government think-tank NITI Aayog, which has been given a mandate to execute the scheme, has asked all district collectors to assemble 'Digital Armies' comprising skilled youth of their areas to speed up the transition into digital payments. NITI CEO Amitabh Kant, the officer who led campaigns such as Incredible India and Make in India has written to all collectors asking them to…

Know Your Bureaucrat: CA-turned IAS Praveen Garg at the helm of printing bank notes, minting coins

AMID the scarcity of new currency after the demonetization of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes with effect from November 8, the Centre has placed an IAS officer — Praveen Garg of Madhya Pradesh cadre — on the hot seat of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India (SPMCIL), the government-owned agency that’s responsible for the production of bank notes, coins, non–judicial stamps, postage stamps etc. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), in a decision on Wednesday, assigned…

Ground Reporting on Demonetization: List of officers, and the states that they are visiting

A NUMBER of officers, mostly IAS, are currently on field visits to various states to get the first-hand account on the Centre’s demonetization policy and prepare reports on it, suggesting corrective measures. For example, Raghavendra Singh, additional secretary in the department of agriculture, on Tuesday visited Koley Market in Sealdah, West Bengal. According to media reports, during his visit, he was flooded with complaints by traders who had a turbulent time after the Centre announced Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes caused to be legal tenders. The West Bengal government requested Singh to pay visits to Burdwan, Hooghly etc. where farmers have been hit hard. Here is the full list of officers and the states that they are visiting to report on the status of demonetization.