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Journalism of Courage
With time, digital money is becoming increasingly important in our lives. This is prompting people to integrate technology into their lives. Raju Patel, a beggar from Bihar, is one of them!
On Tuesday, ANI reported that Raju Patel has shed the traditional method of asking for alms and started using PhonePe, a digital wallet and an online payment app.
Some people, who are amused by Patel’s innovation, have labelled him as “India’s first digital beggar”. Meanwhile, a few people pointed out how technology and digital literacy has done little to eliminate poverty.
“Its both good and bad. Good that digitisation has reached the masses. Bad that govt is not doing enough to reduce beggary, giving jobs and these people themselves feel content with begging and not doing something for themselves to get out of it and brighten their future,” a Twitter user commented.
A few Twitter users from Bettiah also pointed out that Patel is a popular figure at Bihar’s Bettiah railway station.
https://twitter.com/PostSuspension1/status/1490955938937077762
https://twitter.com/BBTheorist/status/1490947572693073925
Explaining his need to innovate, Patel told ANI, “Many times, people refused to give me alms saying that they did not have cash in smaller denominations. Many travellers said that in the era of e-wallets there is no need to carry cash anymore. Due to this, I opened a bank account and an e-wallet account.”
He added, “I accept digital payments, it’s enough to get the work done and fill my stomach.”
