In a significant push towards digitalization and what also seems to be a cost-cutting measure, the Union Ministry has decided to stop printing hard copies of calendars, diaries, festival greeting cards and other such material that are used for inner circulation among the ministries, PSUs, public sector banks,  departments and all other government organizations from 2021 onwards.

In the place of hard copies, the government will opt for digital versions of the same.

The Finance Ministry was quoted by media as saying as, "Given the prevailing circumstances in which the world is moving towards adopting digital force-multipliers for productivity, the government of India has decided to follow this best practice."

Shedding more light on the matter, the Ministry added, "All ministries/ departments/PSUs/ PSBs, and all other organs of the government are to adopt innovative means to use digital or online methods for this. Innovative digital and online solutions, which will achieve the same result as physical calendars or diaries, are to be prioritized and put into practice."

It is mention-worthy that printing such a huge chunk of material is a severe strain on the exchequer. According to the latest available annual report of the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) (FY12), the publicity arm had spent ₹8.8 crore to print 1.9 million calendars and 120,000 diaries, besides posters, booklets and pamphlets.

The Indian Economy already seems to be limping because of certain 'faulty' decisions taken in the past as well as the onslaught of COVID-19. The April-June quarterly GDP of the country has been the worst quarterly GDP in decades.

In this background, the latest move towards digitalization makes sense.