Port Blair, Nov. 18: To promote cashless transactions in the Islands, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Andaman and Nicobar Circle organised a Digital Mela today in the Conference Hall of Tagore Government College of Education at Middle Point, Port Blair. Chief Guest V Jagadeesan, Chief General Manager, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Andaman and Nicobar Circle inaugurated the Digital Mela.

India Post Payments Bank, State Bank of India, BSNL and other Telecom/Digital Service Providers displayed and demonstrated their respective digital payment systems before the visitors at the Digital Mela.

On the occasion, V Jagadeesan gave a detailed presentation on various aspects of the laying of the proposed undersea Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) between Chennai and Port Blair. He also gave an overview of the BSNL’s network presence in the islands. “BSNL’s network is present on all the major islands and 58 out of 69 Gram Panchayats have been covered by BSNL’s broadband network”, he said.

Similarly, V B Ganpathy, Scientist E National Informatics Centre (NIC), Port Blair gave an elaborate presentation on cashless transactions and explained various modes of digital payments like Aadhar enabled payment system, E-wallets, Unified Payment Interface (UPI), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) etc.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary PBMC & Secretary IT, Andaman and Nicobar Administration Suneel Anchipaka highlighted Port Blair Municipal Council’s (PBMC) achievement of implementing 100 percent digital payments. He pressed upon the need to complete the laying of OFC by June 2020 to pace up the digitalization process in the islands. 

Earlier, V S Arvind Joint Controller of Communication Accounts, DoT, A&N Circle welcomed the guests and gathering to the Digital Mela and highlighted the need and objective of organising such events. V Shiv Shankar ADG, A&N Circle, WB LTC proposed the vote of thanks.