Department of Information and Public Relations

Press Release No. 89/17

DIGI DHAN MELA HELD AT SHILLONG

A one day Digi Dhan Mela organized by the State Information Technology and Communication Department in collaboration with NITI Aayog and Ministry of Electronics & IT, Government of India was held today at U Soso Tham Auditorium, Shillong. The Union Minister of State for Railways, Shri Rajen Gohain attended the programme as the Chief Guest and Dr. M. Ampareen Lyngdoh, State IT& C Minister as Guest of Honour. The programme was also attended by Shri Sanjay Kumar, Director, NITI Aayog, Shri D.P. Wahlang, Commissioner and Secretary, IT&C, senior government officials, representatives from public and private sector banks, digital payment agencies among others. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Gohain said demonetization announced by the Prime Minister of India to fight against black money and corruption have paved the way for a new revolution in which paper currency was replaced by digital transactions. Shri Gohain also emphasized on the need to educate the masses on how to use mobile phones for making purchases and also to promote digital payment methods to encourage consumers and merchants to increasingly shift to digital payment modes. Dr. M. Ampareen Lyngdoh in her address informed that the Mela will go a long way in establishing a digital payment eco-system in the State which will lead to a less cash society. The Mela will provide an opportunity for the general public and make them aware on the digital payment process and its benefits which would remove any fears from doing money transaction through mobile phones. Lamenting on poor network connectivity in the State, Dr. Lyngdoh stressed on having more telecom towers and equipment to increase coverage and also urged the BSNL and private sector players to come forward in this endeavor. During the programme, the Union MoS launched the BSNL Mobicash, an e-wallet application and distributed prizes to the winners of various competition held during the day. The State IT& C Minister also handed over the awards to four local taxi drivers, Shri Bankular Kharkongor, Shri Imran Khan, Shri Subash Thapa and Bablu Kumar with Digital Taxi Award and Shri Manosh Kumar Rai, a cobbler by profession with the Digital Vendor Award for successfully carrying out digital transactions in their day to day business. The day long Digi Dhan Mela saw a huge public participation thronging different stalls put up by various banking institution, mobile operators and different departments of the State Government to gather first hand information about various Digital Schemes of the Government of India.