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When I was told about the ‘ICICI <keyword id="50691" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Digital">Digital</keyword> Village’ at <keyword id="3896834" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="akodara">Akodara</keyword> in <keyword id="48360" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sabarkantha">Sabarkantha</keyword> district of <keyword id="6354766" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gujarat">Gujarat</keyword>, I was skeptical, because of two reasons: one, How is a ‘digital village’ possible with the lack of infrastructure? and two, when the cities are still cash economies with structured formal sectors, how can a single village be the exception? 
 
My answers were answered on a quick day trip to the village where we actually saw cashless transactions take place smoothly, similar to how things take place in the city. 
 The village was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> in January 2015 to commemorate <keyword id="233016" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICICI-Group">ICICI Group</keyword>’s 60 years in India. 
This was done to enable villagers to use technology in various aspects of life including banking, payments, education, among others. 
 
Here, Wi-Fi connectivity is available across the village where transactions as low as Rs. 10 take place on phone through SMS and the Internet. The wifi tower stands tall in the middle of the village. 
 
The objective for this was simple; to show that technology can be used to eliminate barriers that separate rural and urban India. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/ICICI-Bank-to-transform-100-villages-into-Digital-Villages-in-100-days/articleshow/55666437.cms">ALSO READ: ICICI Bank to transform 100 villages into ‘Digital Villages’ in 100 days</a> 
 
So how was it done? 
 First, every adult villager was encouraged to open a <keyword id="6355272" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bank">bank</keyword> account to enable savings and a cashless habit. 
The Bank uses tab banking to open savings bank account which allows customers to open accounts without submitting physical documents. The accounts are being serviced by a dedicated branch and an ATM which did not have a queue when we visited it! 
 
Various cashless transactions are facilitated through Debit Cards, SMS Banking, Online Banking, Cashless Payment Processing and other modes. 
 
The villagers' accounts are also being linked to Aadhar to enable direct transfer of government benefits into savings accounts. 
 
How is it enabled? 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/MobiKwik-launches-a-light-lite-app-to-integrate-all-Indians/articleshow/55662642.cms">The cashless economy needed end-to-end payment solution </a>leveraging Rupay cards and SMS banking at the village shops, at the market for the sale of agri-produce and at the cooperative society for sale of milk. All of that was done with the help of the local government in association with the bank. 
 From enabling farmers to access the latest information on prices of agricultural commodities on <keyword id="35258" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="NCDEX">NCDEX</keyword> to establishing a water treatment plant to provide clean water to the villagers, all the resources were matched in level to the digital offering to create overall development. 
 
The result? 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/EXCLUSIVE-Mobikwik-is-willing-to-partner-with-e-wallets-like-Paytm/articleshow/55667167.cms">All earning adults carry minimum cash, get daily payments in their bank accounts</a> and pay instantly for any service. 
What technology has done here is magnificent, if only the same model could’ve been implemented everywhere in the country overnight, to ease the pains of what this unplanned demonetization move has caused, particularly in the rural areas.

India is struggling with the effects of
demonetization while this Digital Village is blooming

Can you imagine turning one Indian village digital every day? <keyword id="6653" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="ICICI-bank">ICICI Bank</keyword> claims it will do it. 
 ICICI <keyword id="6355272" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bank">Bank</keyword>, today announced that it will transform 100 villages into Digital Villages through a number of measures. 
 
These villages will enable villagers to use digital channels for banking and payments transactions. There, villagers will be able to open bank accounts using Aadhar-based e-KYC and make cashless payments to retail stores through a unique SMS/USSD-based mobile solution. 
 Additionally, ICICI Bank in association with <keyword id="339601" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICICI-Foundation">ICICI Foundation</keyword> will impart vocational training to nearly 10,000 underprivileged villagers, especially women, to help them earn a sustainable livelihood. The bank will also extend credit facilities to the trained villagers in a bid to boost self-employment opportunities in the villages. 
 This ambitious move is inspired by the success of India’s first digital village, created by ICICI Bank at <keyword id="3896834" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="akodara">Akodara</keyword> in <keyword id="48360" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sabarkantha">Sabarkantha</keyword> district of Gujarat. Ms. <keyword id="45875" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chanda-Kochhar">Chanda Kochhar</keyword>, MD &amp; CEO, ICICI Bank said , “We strongly feel that technology can play an important role in putting development on a fast lane.” 
 
The bank will create a cashless ecosystem at these villages, provide vocational training to 10,000 villagers in first 100 days and offer them credit linkages so that the villagers can start their own business ventures. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/MobiKwik-launches-a-light-lite-app-to-integrate-all-Indians/articleshow/55662642.cms">ALSO READ: MobiKwik launches a 'lite' app for seamless transactions, even on basic connection</a> 
 
ICICI Bank will use <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/EXCLUSIVE-Inside-Paytm-the-first-24-hours-after-demonetization/articleshow/55581182.cms">tablet-based banking and Aadhar-based e-KYC </a>to help villagers open accounts in few hours without submitting physical documents. All adults in the villages will have saving accounts, which will be linked to <keyword id="155319" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aadhar">Aadhar</keyword> to enable direct transfer of government benefits into these accounts. There will be dedicated branch and ATM of ICICI Bank to service these accounts. 
 
The bank will provide a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Is-your-credit-card-a-debt-sentence/articleshow/55617326.cms">unique SMS &amp; USSD based mobile service</a> which will facilitate the villagers to transfer funds, receive alerts &amp; statements and make payments to retail stores by using their mobile phones. This SMS banking will be available in regional languages and will function on basic mobile phones. The Bank will also set up end-to-end merchant infrastructure that will enable the retailers at the village to accept mobile based payments. 
 
The bank will also create a cashless, digital payment ecosystem for the predominant commercial activity of these villages and set up Point-of-Sale (POS) machines at seed and fertilizer outlets for cashless transactions using Rupay cards. 
 All this is being done in the wake of <keyword id="6362150" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="demonetization">demonetization</keyword> when the country's villages are suffering the most. As someone who saw how Akodara's citizens were reaping benefits from the digitization, this move is not only lauded but necessary right now.

ICICI
Bank to transform 100 villages into ‘Digital Villages’ in 100 days

Quite a lot of people across the country are struggling to withdraw money and exchange Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes from banks after the demonetization, but this one village in <keyword id="6354766" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gujarat">Gujarat</keyword> is handling the situation in a hassle-free manner – all thanks to digitization. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/10-Latest-developments-in-the-demonetization-matter-to-look-out-for/articleshow/55413152.cms">ALSO READ: 10 Latest developments in the demonetization matter to look out for</a> 
 
Going cashless is not a big deal for Akodara, India’s first digital village where 220 families have e-banking facility. And residents use it for buying milk and vegetables to bread and eggs. Their phones are linked to their bank accounts and they make instant transactions using the village WiFi smoothly. 
 Located about 90 km from Ahmedabad, in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat, the village has a population of 1,200 and was adopted by <keyword id="6653" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICICI-bank">ICICI bank</keyword> recently as a part of Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>’s <keyword id="1929810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Digital-India">Digital India</keyword> campaign. 
 
The village grocer is accepting payments through<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/This-Indian-Professor-tells-us-exactly-how-the-demonetization-will-fail-to-curb-black-money-/articleshow/55412703.cms"> e-banking</a> for any sale above Rs. 10 which is brilliant. The local dairy cooperative has also stopped paying farmers in cash since the last year and transfers directly to their bank accounts, making the process much easier. 
 
The villagers have their accounts linked to their Aadhar cards,so government benefits are also transferred directly into their savings accounts. 
 
Now, only if our cities had been converted just as easily, before this announcement was made.

Learn demonetization from Akodara, India’s first digital village

A health scare has gripped Gujarat after six children tragically succumbed to a suspected viral infection since July 10. While the cause is yet to be confirmed, State Health Minister <keyword id="20006003" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rushikesh-Patel" source="keywords">Rushikesh Patel</keyword> has stated that <keyword id="22416433" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chandipura-virus" source="keywords">Chandipura virus</keyword> is a strong possibility. Twelve cases have been identified across the state, with four reported in Sabarkantha district, three in Aravalli, and one each in Mahisagar and Kheda districts. Notably, two patients from Rajasthan and one from Madhya Pradesh also received treatment in Gujarat. Samples from all 12 patients have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for definitive diagnosis, said Minister Patel. Five of the six deaths occurred at the civil hospital in Himatnagar, Sabarkantha district. It was there that paediatricians first suspected <keyword id="22427587" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="chandipura" source="keywords">Chandipura</keyword> and sent samples from four deceased children for testing. Sadly, four more children at the hospital subsequently developed similar symptoms. However, as the Health Minister emphasised, confirmation of the Chandipura virus can only come after test results are received. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="102646924" title="8 Effective home remedies to stay safe during ongoing flu/viral outbreak in India" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><h2>But what is this Chandipura virus?</h2>Chandipura vesiculovirus or CHPV is a member of the <keyword id="22427586" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rhabdoviridae" source="keywords">Rhabdoviridae</keyword> family that is associated with an encephalitic illness — which manifests as inflammation of the brain — in humans. The Chandipura virus, transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks, and sand flies, causes fever and symptoms similar to the flu. Interestingly, the virus is not considered contagious from person to person and has never been detected in any humans outside India. This mysterious virus was first detected in the blood of two patients from Maharashtra’s Chandipura village back in 1965. Since then, the virus has been linked to various unexplained outbreaks of encephalitis in the country. Recent ones include one in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra in 2003, where 329 children were affected and 183 of them died. Similar cases were observed in children in Gujarat in the following year, in 2004. Given previous trends, the Chandipura virus seems to have a high mortality rate of over 50%. Accordingly, authorities are taking swift action to contain the situation. Intensive surveillance has been undertaken in the affected areas, Minister Patel stated. Over 18,600 people across 4,400 households have been screened for the virus and the Health Department is working tirelessly to prevent further spread of the disease. The state awaits confirmation from the NIV to guide further action. This incident highlights the importance of preventive measures against <keyword id="22242503" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mosquito-borne-illnesses" source="keywords">mosquito-borne illnesses</keyword>, especially during the monsoon season. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111250832" title="Bengaluru on dengue alert: City reports over 1,000 cases in 20 days; BBPM Chief falls prey to disease" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

You Searched For "Sabarkantha" and got 4 results

India is struggling with the effects of demonetization while this Digital Village is blooming

Tanya Dubey

ICICI Bank to transform 100 villages into ‘Digital Villages’ in 100 days

Tanya Dubey

Learn demonetization from Akodara, India’s first digital village

BI India Bureau

What is the Chandipura virus that has already claimed the lives of 6 children in Gujarat?

Ashmita Gupta

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