Key Points

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Revenue Secretary Arvind Srivastava, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs Chairman Sanjay Agarwal and other members of the board were also present during the inauguration.

In a post on social media X, Sitharaman's office wrote that officers in the country must embrace three imperatives to be effective.

The imperatives were not including enforcement and facilitation as opposing ends of the spectrum, investigating holistically, and rooting enforcement operations not just in Data but also in Dharma.

"In order to be effective, all enforcement agencies, all officers must embrace three key imperatives: Do not view enforcement and facilitation as opposing ends of the spectrum. Investigate holistically, keeping the big picture in focus, not merely chasing isolated infractions. Enforcement operations should be rooted not only in Data but also in Dharma," the post read.

In an earlier post, Sitharaman also stated that the Prime Minister's words of 'Reform, Perform and Transform' need to be remembered to keep moving forward.

Earlier on May 31, the Union Minister stated that the priority of the government was to "make sure" that the currency in circulation would be in "lower denominations" and spreading more awareness for doing "digital transfers."

Answering a question on the future of Rs 500 currency, Sitharaman said, "We are making every effort to make sure that currency will be in the lower denominations, used much more than the higher, as the Rs 2000 is almost completely out of circulation, except for possibly 0.02, which is still lying outside. Others have given it to the banks."

"We need to have more digital awareness built so that people see a benefit in doing digital transfers," the Union Finance Minister said at the 'National Commemorative Seminar on 60 Years of Pt Deendayal Upadhyaya Integral Humanism Lectures' in the national capital.

In recent years, India has witnessed an unparalleled rise in digital transactions, marking a significant milestone in its journey towards becoming a cashless society. At the forefront of India's digital payment revolution is UPI, with a record hit of 16.73 billion transactions in December 2024.

- ANI