Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: As India expands the borders of its digitalization beyond the country, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has applauded its deployment of a Direct Cash Transfer (DCT) scheme and other similar social welfare programs, calling them a “logistical marvel,” considering the sheer size of the country.
The global lender’s praise came when India, one of the most digitalized countries, is talking to nearly 40 countries, including those in Europe, for the adoption of its Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and the RuPay card as a replacement for MasterCard and Visa.
“From India, there is a lot to learn… If I look at the case of India, it is actually quite impressive,” Paolo Mauro, Deputy Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department at the IMF, told reporters at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday
“In fact, just because of the sheer size of the country, it is a logistical marvel how these programs that seek to help people who are at low-income levels reach literally hundreds of millions of people,” he said in response to a question on the impressive DCT program being successfully implemented in India.
There are programs that specifically target women, the elderly, and farmers. Perhaps the interesting part is that in these examples, there is a lot of technological innovation, he said.
“In the case of India, one thing that is striking is the use of the unique identification system, the Aadhaar,” Mauro said.
“But in other countries, also, there is greater use of sending money through mobile banking to people who actually do not have a whole lot of money, but they have a cell phone,” Mauro said.
“So, being somewhat innovative in identifying people, in processing their applications for transfers through digital means, deploying funds through, again, mobile banking. This is something that countries can learn from each other. We try also here to be a little bit of a convening place where people can compare these types of experiences,” he said.
The IMF is collaborating with India on the application of new technologies, said Vitor Gaspar, Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department, adding India is “one of the most inspiring examples of the application of technology to solve very complicated issues of targeting support to the people who need it most”.
The IMF has also been working with many African countries in government technology.
“And also in Africa, there are very many examples of innovation, which is relevant and inspiring as well. So, the exchange of experiences that Paolo was talking about is something that we are trying to organize, and the amount of learning that can take place is actually quite surprising. There is a lot going on in India, in Africa, and in other parts of the world,” Gaspar said.