Successful implementation of digital payments shows confidence, says Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday that the successful implementation of digital payment systems in India has proved the naysayers wrong. She praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's approach to governance and his trust in people for his success after he spoke about '20 years of Modi governance' before a gathering of BJP workers here. She said that people received money from their bank accounts just by pressing a button during the lockdown triggered by the COVID 19 epidemic. If they could not go to the bank or did not know how to take it, the bank Mitra went to the village and delivered their money, she said. During the same period, some advanced economies were writing aid checks, putting them in an envelope and sending them through the post. The finance minister said that there were a lot of doubts about how electronic payments would work, especially in rural areas where internet connectivity is patchy, but now in spite of COVID India leads the world in UPI payments. It was Modi's approach to governance that made a difference, said Sitharaman. Trust our people, trust our industry, trust our women and trust our families. A few years ago, a UPA minister said it was impossible to popularize electronic payments as how would one pay Rs 7 to a vegetable vendor electronically. She added that this doubt has been dispelled now. When the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was in power, a new corruption scam would emerge every day, but in the last eight years nobody has even accused the Modi government of corruption, the BJP leader said. The profile of Padma recipients has changed under the Modi government, according to Sitharaman. They are picked from the hinterlands, from the corners of the country. They are great achievers, but we didn't have time to recognise them. We didn't know how to locate them. She said that Modiji's team locates every one of them. Delivery is the story, the finance minister said, adding that there had been slogans like ''Garibi Hatao' and promises to provide things like potable water in the past. She added that all that is getting fulfilled now because here is a man Modi who is dedicated to the country.