2 Telugu states compete for digital tag

Suresh Dharur

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Two Telugu states — Andhra Pradesh and Telangana — are trying their best to beat one another in the race to go digital post-demonetisation.

Both states have unveiled measures to encourage people to switch over to digital mode of payment and create an enabling infrastructure with the help of technology companies and banks. Chief Ministers N Chandrababu Naidu and K Chandrasekhar Rao have been pushing hard the digitisation of all financial transactions in their states.

Both leaders have supported the demonetisation policy while highlighting the need for quickly improving the cash supply in market.

While Naidu, who had earlier served as the Chief Minister of the combined Andhra Pradesh for nine years, is known for his tech-savvy approach to governance, Rao has also been quick to adopt the digital route and has taken pro-active initiatives to promote online transactions.

“There are no cash transactions in Telangana’s Ibrahimpur village now. While 70 per cent of them already had their bank accounts, we have ensured in the last one month that all remaining families also opened their accounts,” said K Yella Reddy, son of village sarpanch K Lakshmi.

“I just carry Rs 100 in my pocket only to be used when I go to the district headquarters. In our village, even chaiwallah has a swiping machine," he says.

All shops in Ibrahimpur, including provision stores, fertiliser shop, fair price shop and cable operator, have been provided with Point of Sale (PoS) machines, where villagers can swipe their cards to buy goods for daily requirements. A majority of the villagers own smart phones and have downloaded the Andhra Bank’s mobile wallet.

Mori village in Andhra Pradesh is the first super-smart village of the state. It was from this village that the Chief Minister launched AP Fibre Grid services which offer cable television, telephone and Internet services at just Rs 149 per month.

The Internet facility, covering all 1,900 houses in the village, would be used to provide direct marketing to traders. "Villagers are provided with the best training to make use of Internet to improve their finances through direct marketing," Fibernet project Managing Director K Sambasiva Rao said. While AP has already launched “AP Purse”, a mobile app to help people pay their utility bills and carry out their cash transactions, the Telangana Government is also set to launch the ‘TS e-Wallet’ that seeks to digitise all financial transactions of the government.

‘AP Purse’ presently has 13 mobile banking and 10 mobile wallets. “We are encouraging people to opt for mobile banking to overcome the present cash crunch, particularly the shortage of small currency crisis. We will encourage people including students to improve digital financial literacy among people,” Naidu said. The AP government would rope in engineering students to train people in mobile banking transactions using e-wallets.

Farmers in Telangana would be trained in digital transactions. “Our government will undertake a campaign to educate people on electronic financial literacy. The digital transfer of money post-demonetisation has become a necessity for financial transactions,” the Chief Minister said. 

Study on Telugu DNA 

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been separated, but are the people genetically different or do they share the same DNA? The question may be answered soon.

The Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and Telangana State Archaeology Department have embarked on a mission to unravel the genetic mystery and ancestral roots of natives of the present-day Telagnana and Andhra Pradesh.

Said to be the first-of-its-kind research in these parts, the study will explore the realms of ancient DNA to decode genesis of natives in modern-day AP and Telangana.