Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi
Kotathattu gram panchayat goes cashless
Udupi, Jan 15: "The menace of black money is deterrent to the development of the nation. The country needs to free itself from this menace, and to do this, every individual should take up the responsibility of wiping out black money from the country," said health minister Ramesh Kumar.
He was speaking after inaugurating a programme on 'Going casheless for public good' organized by Kotathattu gram panchayat, which has switched to casheless transactions, at Kota Shivaram Karanth theme park here on Sunday January 15.
"Black money has devalued the hard work put in by the poor to earn their livelihood. Black money is an enemy of the country, and an insult to the earnings of the poor. It is the reason for the increase in corruption and must be stopped. Everyone irrespective of party affiliation should work towards getting the country rid of black money and taking it towards the path of development.
"The cashless system introduced in Kotathattu gram panchayat is a beacon of light to providing transparent administration. It is model to other gram panchayats. I will hold discussions with the state rural development minister and request him to send a team of technical experts and senior officials, based on whose report cashless system could be adopted in at least two gram panchayats in every district at the earliest. Cashless economy will bring transparency in administration and curb misuse of public money," the minister said.
Stating that positive changes have been brought into the electoral system, he urged that only honest and deserving candidates be nominated for elections.
MLC Kota Srinivas Poojary, delivering the keynote address, said, "There are 1,032 families attached to Kotathattu gram panchayat. All of them have bank accounts and have been given debit cards so that all payments related to the panchayat can be cashless. Henceforth, all transactions including those related to procuring building licence, payment of property tax, water tax, utility bills etc will be cashless in this panchayat."
Kotathattu gram panchayat president H Pramod Hande presided over the programme and welcomed the gathering. Kotathattu PDO Satish compered.
Udupi ZP president Dinakar Babu, taluk panchayat president Nalini Pradeep Rao, ZP member Raghavendra Kanchan and many others were present.