India is a country of villages and its development is identical with the development of the people living in rural areas. According to the Census 2011, Rural India represents 68.84% of the total population of India1. The rural sector is characterized by low income levels, poor quality of life and weak human capital base. There are several areas which need to be improved in rural sector to improve the level of employment and living conditions of rural households. It requires significantinvestmentin education, roads, health-care, electricity, energy and information technology.
The government has framed a number of supportive rural policies to stimulate rural development. Recent government measures like the farmer‘s loans waiver program, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and increasing minimum support price for farm products has increased disposable income in rural India. It was expected that the Union Budget 2017 will highlight issues relating to agriculture and rural sectors of the economy. This expectation was indeed fulfilled; Agriculture and rural sectors were included as two of the nine pillars of the most transformative agenda of the Union Budget 2017.
As the importance of the digitalization has taken driver seat by the present government, the present study is undertaken to identify the challenges in the implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for the rural poor, to analyse the steps which are taken towards cashless economy in Rural India and to study the Gender wise and level of literacy wise awareness of government initiatives on cashless transactions. The present study is focused on the rural areas of Khurda and Nab Rangpur. These two districts selected on the basis of literacy rate (census 2011). Two districts are identified, viz. Khurda and Nabarangapur where the level of literacy is 86.88% (being highest) and 46.43%(being lowest) respectively. Villages and respondents were selected from each of these two clusters using random sampling technique.
The methodology includes identification of variables through exploratory research, determination of sample size, conducting cluster and random sampling, designing questionnaire, conducting pilot study, conducting reliability (.70) and validity test. Based on these exercises and analysis of the data collected during thepilot stage, the variables for study werefinalized and the questionnaire redesigned to collect data for analysis..
The analysis of data collected through thequestionnaire revealed that, thedigitalization process indeed has benefits. But before implementing the system, it is important to create the awareness of it. There is anormal trend that peoplebelonging to ruralareas arenot willing to do financialtransactionswith the banks. Lack of bank branches is one of the important factors. If expansion of bank branches is not possible then banks should create alternative distribution channels. Moreover, adequate interest, internetconnectivityshould beavailablewith thecustomersso that they mayfind it beneficial touse the system.
The study identified some gap areas as perceived by the respondents. The areas of concern identified in research should be addressed, in such a way that, the rural livings in the two districts will be in a position to uplift their standard of living. It should be noted that only opening up a bank account or marking an individual as financially included will not solve the issue. There should be continuous value addition in all aspects; else, the progress and dream of digital rural India will remain as dormant.
