Lanura beats cash crunch, becomes first to go cashless in J-K

As the scenario of cash crunch continues to disrupt normal lives in rural areas, a village in Kashmir have turned the tables and gone completely cashless to restore normalcy in the region.

Srinagar, Dec 18: A village in central Kashmir's Budgam district has become the first village in the state to go 'cashless'. Lanura village, about 30 kms from the summer capital here, has become the first village in Jammu and Kashmir to go cashless, an official spokesman said here on Sunday. He said at least one member of each household in the village has been trained to use Electronic Payment System (EPS).

So far, 150 persons have been provided training to use EPS at Lanura which falls in Panchayat Bugroo-B in block Khansahab of the district. The spokesman said the feat has become possible through rigorous efforts by CSC e-Governance Services India Limited and National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the objective of Digital Financial Inclusion.

The government has been pushing for digital transactions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealing people to move to a cashless economy.

Also, the sleepy village about 125 km from Hyderabad became the first hamlet in south India to go cashless. Except for school-going children, about 1,200 villagers belonging 370 families - were given debit cards.

PTI