Prime Minister Narendra Modi today dedicated the digital village named Akodara to the nation. The digital village has been developed by ICICI bank and was launched at an event to commemorate 60 years of ICICI Group. Addressing the august gathering in Mumbai this evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the ICICI group for its initiative and said that the village will serve as a model for the Digital India Program.

Saying that banking sector can become the agent for social transformation, Mr. Modi asked banks to extend their facilities to the unbanked and poor so that these people do not stray towards investing in gold. The Prime Minister said that saving is a part of Indian culture and banks must accept this challenge to attract more and more people towards banking.
Mr. Modi also advised banks to go for cashless transactions. He said that in this way banks can help the government in rooting out the menace of black money.

Meanwhile, villagers from Akodara in Sabarkantha district of north Gujarat will now be able to use technology in various aspects of their life including banking, education, payments, health care and more. ICICI group has worked to bring in wi-fi connectivity and make financial transactions cashless through ATM cards, textbooks paperless by providing tabs and also a school with digital black board or projector. The village will also have e-health facility that will enable patients to avail the facility of tele medicine among others.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, MD and CEO of ICICI Bank, Chanda Kocchar, civic officials of Akodara village and ICICI Group officials were present on the occasion.