Going cashless among almost penniless

Azhar Qadri in Budgam (J&K)

At age 55, an illiterate Zeba finds it hard to understand how one can go buy or sell 'cashless' in her Lanura village (Budgam). She has heard the people of Lanura talk about it. "It seems good," says Zeba, "if we don't suffer any loss, then it is good."

Zeba's son, Shabir Ahmad Lone, is training for about a fortnight. His is part of a "rigorous effort" by CSC e-Governance Services India Limited and National Informatic Centre to introduce electronic payment system in Lanura. It is an effort to teach the inhabitants of Lanura to go cashless, go digital. Most villagers are daily wagers. Some are into making like Kangri -- a clay bowl weaved into a willow wicker used in winters as ember-fuelled heaters. A few of them have small agricultural land.

Lone, 28, has a small shop at the gates of Lanura and he, like others in the village, has memorized the benefits of going cashless. "This will put an end to corruption," he says. The lessons that Lone has been trying hard to learn since early this month may be a routine affair to many in urban societies, where e-businesses, online shopping and e-transactions are the new basics of life. In Lanura, it is something revolutionary and, for many, hard to understand.

The nearest bank from Lanura is about 3km away, where each household maintains at least one account. So, even cashless transactions would demand villagers to walk up to the bank for their daily cash requirements. 

According to the 2011 census, the worker strength in the village is 192 while marginal workers are 50 -- 44 among them women. 

The literacy rate in Lanura is low and the hamlet is part of Bugroo-B panchayat block, which has a population of 1910 - nearly half of whom lives below the poverty line, according to official records. 

That's why Lone's younger brother Showkat still finds it hard to fully understand the online world. In the morning, the village women are taught about the e-transactions. In the evening, it is the turn of men. "Women are showing more willingness to learn. Most of elder men are reluctant," says Mohammad Yasin Thokar, who taught people of Lanura to go cashless. 

Thokar says the internet speed and availability is a problem in the village. "The 2G internet availability is good, but 3G speed in available only at select spots," he said.

Last week, Thokar was in Dreygam, a village next to Lanura. He was teaching high school students about how to "go cashless, go digital". It is the third class at High School Dreygam in recent days and students are now learning how to operate the e-wallet Paytm. Thokar gives a demonstration to students, most of them Dreygam's girls.

Three classes later, Insha Hamid of Dreygam has memorized the theory of going cashless. "We can pay electricity bills and other bills and recharge our phones by using this (mobile phone) application. We had to stand and wait in queues at banks, but by using this application we will not need to do it. It will save time," the class IX student said.