New Delhi, Jun 17 (TOI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the Digital India programme has helped check black marketing and corruption, and asked people to use RuPay, the Indian version of credit/debit cards, to ensure that transaction and processing fee is not earned by foreign companies.

Modi, who interacted with beneficiaries of the various Digital India efforts and representatives from common service centres (CSC) on Friday, said when RuPay is used, the money remains in India and is used for development works and infrastructure projects.

Modi associated the use of RuPay cards with nationalism. "Not everyone can go and fight on the borders. Using Ru-Pay is also a kind of national service," he said, adding that more than 50 crore RuPay cards have been issued in less than four years of its launch.

Speaking about the Digital India programme, he said it is a war against touts and middlemen and has helped the government check the spread of black money and black marketing while creating immense job opportunities in smaller towns and rural areas.

IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also said that the Digital India initiative was aimed at digital inclusion, and empowering the underprivileged with the power of technology.

"Digital India is a fight with dalali (touts)," he said. "Digital India has checked black money and black marketing and uprooted middlemen… The movement towards more digital payments is linked to eliminating middlemen."

Modi added that 23 electronic manufacturing centres have been set up in 15 states and the number of units manufacturing mobile handsets and their components have multiplied from just two in 2014 to over 120 now, providing employment to 4.5 lakh people.

Also, the Rs 550 crore BPO promotion scheme has led to the creation of two lakh job opportunities, the PM said.