The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday praised India. It described the introduction of the direct cash transfer system and other similar welfare programs as a “logistical marvel”.
“There’s a lot we can learn from India. There’s a lot we can learn from some other examples from around the world. We have examples from almost every continent and every income level. When I look at the case of India, quite impressive actually, ” Paolo Mauro, deputy director of the IMF’s fiscal affairs department, was quoted as saying by PTI.
“In fact, just because of the sheer size of the country, it’s a logistical miracle how these programs that try to help low-income people reach literally hundreds of millions of people,” he answered a question. about the impressive Direct Cash Transfer program that the Government of India is successfully implementing.
There are programs aimed specifically at women. There are programs aimed at seniors and farmers. Perhaps interestingly, there is a lot of technological innovation in these examples, he said.
“One thing that stands out in the case of India is the use of the unique identification system Aadhaar,” Mauro said.
“But in other countries, there’s also more use of sending money through mobile banking to people who don’t really have a lot of money but have a mobile phone,” Mauro said.
“Being kind of innovative in identifying people, processing their transfer requests through digital means, deploying funds again through mobile banking. That’s something that countries can learn from each other. We’re trying to be a bit of a place where people they can compare these types of experiences,” he said.
Vitor Gaspar, Director of the Fiscal Department, that the IMF is working with India to apply new technologies, said that India is “one of the most inspiring examples of applying technology to solve very complicated problems of targeting support to the people who need it most.”
The IMF also works with many African countries on government technology.
“And also in Africa there are very many examples of innovation that are relevant and inspiring. So the exchange of experience that Paolo talked about is something that we try to organize, and the amount of learning that a place can bring is actually quite surprising. In India, There’s a lot going on in Africa and other parts of the world,” Gaspar said.