The Lakshadweep islands will soon become a 100 per cent cashless society as part of the Centre’s Digital India initiative, the Union Territory Administrator Farooq Khan said here.
“Because of communication problems, we have certain issues. The government is attending to those issues,” he told reporters here on the sidelines of the valedictory of two-day National Minicoy Festival last evening.
“Very soon all the shops in the islands would have digital money transaction facilities. Other mechanisms such as USST are being ensured now,” he said. “Our UT will soon become a 100 per cent cashless society.”
On the impact of demonetisation, he said the move had caused no difficulties to the islands and not triggered any panic among the locals.
“Our officers were up to the task of taking the challenge head on. They were able to manage the situation in a manner that there were no long queues before ATMs. Banks functioned absolutely normally. No shortage of money was reported from any side,” the administrator said.
Senior central government observers were also here to monitor the situation. “We ensured that people keep on getting what they are legally authorised to get from the banks,” Khan said. “By and large, we had a smooth transition after demonetisation.”