At the Suttur Jatra (rural fair) being held on the banks of the Kapila, it is a mix of tradition and technology. The annual six-day jatra mahotsavais witnessing the single largest digital transaction outreach programme in the State, if not the country.
The organisers approximate that about 2 million people would have visited the fair at Suttur, about 28 km from Mysuru, and nearly 2 lakh people would have received hands-on training or exposure to digital transactions by the time the fair concludes on Sunday.
Suttur Mutt, which is organising the fair, and JSS Polytechnic (which is run by the mutt) have joined hands with the State Bank of India (SBI), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), Kaveri Grameena Bank, and the Mysore and Chamarajanagar District Cooperative Central Bank to harness the jatra platform.
The jatra mahotsava, which commenced on January 24, has already reached out to nearly 80,000 people by way of providing them information and hands-on exposure to apps and net banking.
JSS Polytechnic has installed seven counters at the venue, each manned by five technical workers, bank officials and 12 polytechnic students who are well-versed in mobile technology. “In all, there are about 100 trained students besides 30 technical staff at any given point of time at the venue,” said Captain K. Vijayalakshmi, NCC officer at JSS Polytechnic who is heading one of the counters.
Suttur Mutt seer Shivaratri Deshikendra Swami was keen on educating the rural populace on cashless transactions as the rural economy would be the worst affected if it fails to make the switch, said Ms. Vijayalakshmi.
Those organising the outreach programme say the hands-on demonstration has brought about a change in the mindset of the people, which itself is perceived as a game changer. “A majority of people had wrong notions that digital transactions entailed engineering or technical knowledge, but that has been dispelled to a large extentsaid P.R.A. Udupa of SBI. Boregowda, financial literacy counsellor of Kaveri Grameena Bank, concurred.
The concept already has the thumbs up of the mobile-savvy young generation even in rural areas, with SBI Buddy and BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) emerging as popular apps for download. A brochure complete with details on downloading the apps and digital transactions is being distributed to visitors.
Furthermore, the organisers have announced that from next year, the entry tickets to the Suttur Jatra exhibition could be purchased through digital mode only.
