At Ground Zero of ‘Mission Cashless’ in Jharkhand: Par signal to chahiye

“I am still waiting for the contractor to release my wages,” says Phagua, adding that payments have been irregular since the “notebandi” (demonetisation) was announced on November 8.

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Much of Jharkhand, including interior tribal blocks such as Arki and Torpa in Khunti district, is hobbled by low banking penetration and poor Internet connectivity, which is what makes the government’s cashless mission, with its tight deadline, seem ambitious. That Khunti is a stronghold of the People’s Liberation Front of India, a Maoist splinter group, and a place where the state remains largely invisible, doesn’t help.

Phagua says they often turn to the younger Jorong Soey, a fellow villager in his late 20s, to help them with technology and other things that baffle them — wages, phone calls, etc. Jorong has a “button waala” phone (not a smartphone) and says he has heard of the state government’s Mission Cashless. “Yes, I have heard that you can pay through your phone. Par signal to chahiye (but we need mobile signal),” he says, adding that he has got into the habit of looking at his phone in the middle of his calls in the fear that the signal might go cold anytime.

Two years ago, Soey opened an account with Central Bank in Khunti, the district headquarters 25 km away that has about 20 banks. Some days ago, he visited the bank branch to deposit some “old notes” of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 and hasn’t gone back since. He doesn’t have an ATM card.

The nearest bank in these parts, a rural bank, is in Saiko, a village on the newly constructed highway to Khunti. The bank has about 8,000 customers and caters to around a dozen villages in a radius of 10 km.

Around 10 km from Saiko, in Gerene village, Uday Nath Munda too has an account with a bank in Khunti. He sells lac in the Khunti market, but the wholesaler still hasn’t paid him Rs 8,000 for the produce he sold a month ago. “He said that he has no money because of the notebandi and will pay me later. But I will pull through. I know my money is safe,” he says.

A couple of times, Uday has travelled to a nearby village to withdraw money from a banking correspondent service provided by Central Bank. “Often, they would tell me there is no network, and I would return without money. Now, it is closed permanently,” he says. He has heard of mobile transactions, but has never tried it. “Will it be safe? What if people steal my money,” he asks.

Binrai Munda, 16, also from Gerene village, says he is open to the idea of cashless transactions but doesn’t have a mobile phone. The family owns a small plot of land on which his mother toils, but the produce, he says, is just enough to feed the family.

A month ago, Mahkai Suwansi and Satnarayan Nag from the same village went to the bank in Khunti to get their accounts opened. “We heard about the notebandi and went there to open accounts and deposit our money,” says Mahkai, adding that he hasn’t withdrawn anything from the account so far.

On the way to Khunti is Nijikel, where a Pragya Kendra stands closed.”It was closed long ago,” says a woman. Pragya Kendras are supposed to provide Internet-based services related to the government’s development schemes.

In Kitahatu village under Murhu block, Sanika Munda has opened a ‘photocopy-cum-download’ shop. But he admits that there’s “no downloading”. “I can only give you a printout,” he says, showing his smartphone to show that there is no Internet connection. “I have to travel two kilometres to get connectivity,” he says.

Officials admit that tribals are not used to frequenting banks. “Tribals don’t go to the bank that often — once in 15 days or a month, sometimes even less frequently. It could usually be to withdraw money from their MNREGA accounts,” says Arki BDO Sanjita Toppo, adding that in these parts, tribals are mostly subsistence farmers, have “few needs” and live off the forest produce.

Toppo admits poor Internet connectivity is an issue. “Yes, there is a huge connectivity gap, which makes even normal communication difficult. Besides, it is a challenge to implement various Internet-based welfare schemes of the government. Once the network is improved, many things will fall in place.”

Khunti Deputy Commissioner Chandrashekhar is more optimistic. “The work of making people literate about cashless transactions will continue across all blocks. A large number of people from across the district come to Khunti for various purposes like shopping and banking. They need to be told that they need not first head to the bank to withdraw money to be able to shop. Also, we will first focus on one block, Sadar. That will help us to get an idea about the problems that might come up while implementing this scheme,” he says.

The state government claims to have a strong “workforce” which will be deployed to swiftly usher in the “cashless” era. “To deal with connectivity issues, at least 792 WiFi systems will be installed in remote areas. We are training all police personnel and central paramilitary personnel to use mobile banking and they will, in turn, train five civilians,” says a top state government official.