BHIM-Aadhaar set to revolutionise Indian economy: Modi

Nagpur (Maharashtra), April 14 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the BHIM-Aadhaar digital payments platform can revolutionise the Indian economy by enabling each Indian to pay digitally using their biometric data on a smartphone.

Launching the BHIM-Aadhar digital platform here, Modi said it would boost digital payments in a manner unprecedented anywhere in the world and would be a step towards a ‘less-cash’ economy and combat the black money menace.

Modi said the BHIM-Aadhaar platform would play the same role of empowering the common Indian as the Constitution of India, framed by Bhimrao R. Ambedkar whose 126th birth anniversary is being marked on Friday.

The Prime Minister, who inaugurated various development works here to mark the birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar, said the people of the country should strive to fulfil the dreams of freedom fighters.

He said each and every Indian should have a house in the next five years.

"We have a dream for 2022. The poorest of poor should have a house of his own. And that house must be equipped with electricity, water and other facilities. There should be hospitals and schools in the neighbourhood," Modi said.

Earlier, Modi paid homage to the architect of the Indian Constitution, Bharat Ratna Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar on the occasion of his 126th birth anniversary.

Modi started his day with a visit to the historic monument, Deekshabhoomi, where Babasaheb Ambedkar and over 600,000 followers had embraced Buddhism on October 14, 1956.

This ‘Dharmantar’ is considered the biggest mass religious conversion at a single location in history that took place 61 years ago.

Modi, accompanied by Union Minister Ramdas Athawale and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, went around the Deekshabhoomi and later garlanded a large bust of Babasaheb Ambedkar installed there.

A series of functions has been organised to mark the Ambedkar Jayanti on Friday across Maharashtra, including at Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur and Chaityabhoomi in Mumbai, where Ambedkar was cremated following his death on December 6, 1956.