The Citizen Advocate Summary: Declaring
April 11 as Safe ePay Day
Proposing
April 11 as Safe ePay Day to mark UPI’s pilot launch on April 11, 2016, by NPCI
with 21 banks, initiated by Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan in Mumbai. This initiative
celebrates UPI’s seamless integration of banking and merchant payments.
September
21 – Appeal No 117
April 11
– Declare ‘Safe ePay Day’,
Yes,
April 11 is vacant in the UN Observance Day calendar
UPI 10th
Birthday -April 11 2026 – 202 Days to Go
September 21: International Day
of Peace — Two Days, One Vision: Trust Without Fear
September 21: International Day
of Peace 🕊️ calls
the world to unite in trust, non-violence, and harmony — reminding us that
peace begins with small actions. 🕊️ 🌐
💳 April 11 marks UPI’s 10th
birthday 🎂💳. Imagine
a Safe ePay Day — celebrating secure, inclusive payments that bring trust,
calm, and digital peace.
September 21 – International Day of Peace 🕊️ Meets April 11 – Safe ePay Day 💳✨
🌍 Thought 1: Can Peace Begin with
a Payment?
When we think of peace, we
often imagine doves, ceasefires, or world leaders shaking hands. But sometimes,
peace begins in places we overlook: the relief of a farmer who safely receives
his subsidy in his bank account, the calm of a parent paying school fees online
without fear of fraud, or the dignity of a worker who gets her wages directly
through UPI without delay.
On September 21, the world
observes the International Day of Peace, a United Nations day dedicated
to non-violence and trust. On April 11, we imagine celebrating the proposed
Safe ePay Day — which coincides with the 10th birthday of UPI in
2026. Both days, in their own ways, show us how trust is the foundation of
peace.
🕊️ The Origins of International Day
of Peace
The UN General Assembly
established Peace Day in 1981. The first observance in 1982 saw the Peace
Bell rung at UN headquarters. Two decades later, in 2001, the
resolution was sharpened: September 21 would be a day of non-violence and
ceasefire worldwide.
Since then, Peace Day has grown
into a global grassroots movement:
- Students make origami doves.
- NGOs organize peace concerts.
- Communities pause for a shared moment of
silence at noon.
Peace Day’s power lies in
reminding us that peace is not abstract — it is felt in everyday life.
💳 Safe ePay Day: A Modern Kind of
Peace
The dream of Safe ePay Day on
April 11 aligns with another reality: today, peace is also digital.
Every payment, whether a ₹50 chai
bill or a million-dollar cross-border transfer, is a moment of trust. If
that trust is broken, anxiety follows. Just as conflict disrupts societies, fraud
disrupts peace of mind.
Safe ePay Day is proposed to:
1.
Raise awareness on
secure digital payment practices.
2.
Celebrate innovations like
UPI, IMPS, and digital wallets.
3.
Promote inclusion,
ensuring even the smallest merchant feels confident in digital systems.
4.
Recognize April 11 as UPI’s birthday,
celebrating its role in democratizing safe digital finance.
🔄 Shared Principles: Peace &
Safe ePayments
|
Principle |
International Day of Peace 🕊️ |
Safe ePay Day 💳✨ |
|
Trust |
Ceasefires
build trust between nations. |
Secure
transactions build trust between users and systems. |
|
Safety |
Communities
feel secure without violence. |
Users
feel secure without fraud. |
|
Justice |
Fairness
across societies. |
Fair
grievance redressal in digital finance. |
|
Unity |
Shared
silence across time zones. |
Shared
vigilance across platforms. |
|
Progress |
Peace
allows nations to thrive. |
Safe
ePayments allow economies to grow. |
Both remind us: safety is the
soil where progress grows.
🌱 Peace in Communities, Peace in
Wallets
A peaceful community is one where
families feel secure. A peaceful economy is one where citizens can transact
without fear.
- On Peace Day, a ceasefire allows a
mother to walk her child to school safely.
- On Safe ePay Day, digital safeguards
allow that same mother to pay the school fees online with confidence.
In both cases, peace is freedom
from fear.
📖 Stories of Trust: How Safety
Creates Peace
1. The Ceasefire Story
In 2018, parts of South Sudan
honored a Peace Day ceasefire. Aid groups delivered supplies, children played
outside, and families felt a fragile but real calm.
2. The UPI Story
In 2016, a Bengaluru auto driver
received his first fare directly into his bank account via UPI. “No worry about
fake notes, no fight about change,” he said. For him, peace was not abstract —
it was financial clarity.
Both stories, though different,
highlight how systems of trust restore dignity.
🔢 Fibonacci: The Spiral of Safety
Like the Fibonacci sequence, both
peace and digital trust grow step by step:
- Inner peace →
Family peace → Community peace →
Global peace.
- One safe transaction → One
confident user → One resilient ecosystem → One
peaceful economy.
Each step builds on the last,
spiraling outward toward harmony.
📊 The Cost of Insecurity
|
Insecurity |
Example |
Cost |
|
Conflict Insecurity |
Syrian conflict |
12M displaced, trillions in
damage. |
|
Digital Insecurity |
Over ₹1,000 crore lost
directly. |
Both types of insecurity don’t
just cause material loss — they erode trust, which is the currency of
peace.
🌐 Thought 2: Does Digital Peace Build Social Peace?
When we hear the word peace,
our minds often picture silent prayer gatherings, handshakes between leaders,
or doves taking flight. But what if peace also lives in something as simple as
a digital transaction?
1. The Everyday Stress Factor
For many, financial anxiety is
one of the biggest sources of stress. A delayed salary, a fraudulent debit, or
even a small dispute over money can spark arguments at home or mistrust in the
marketplace.
- A worker whose wage transfer is secure feels
calm returning home.
- A shopkeeper who doesn’t fear fake notes or
fraud greets customers with a smile.
- A family paying bills online without errors
experiences quiet relief.
These micro-moments of digital
peace add up to larger social peace.
2. Trust Ripples Across
Relationships
Every safe ePayment is more than
a transfer of money — it’s a transfer of trust.
- When a student pays fees online without
glitch, she trusts her institution more.
- When a migrant worker’s remittance reaches
home instantly via UPI, the family’s trust in the system deepens.
- When a vendor accepts digital payments
securely, customer relationships grow stronger.
Trust reduces friction, and
reduced friction is peace by another name.
3. Peace as Inclusion
Unsafe systems breed exclusion.
Victims of fraud often withdraw from digital life, just as victims of violence
withdraw from social life. Conversely, safe systems invite participation.
- A grandmother using UPI for the first time
gains confidence.
- A farmer receiving subsidies directly into
his account feels respected.
- A youth entrepreneur builds business knowing
payments won’t vanish.
Digital peace is inclusive
peace, ensuring nobody is left behind.
4. From Micro to Macro
When households experience calm
in their financial lives, that calm extends outward:
- Fewer disputes →
less tension in communities.
- Stronger trust in financial institutions →
stronger trust in governance.
- Widespread secure digital adoption →
resilient economies that avoid the chaos of fraud.
Thus, digital peace becomes
social peace — not just a technical achievement, but a cultural one.
🔑 Takeaway: Just as International Day
of Peace reminds us that non-violence is not merely absence of conflict but
presence of justice, Safe ePay Day would remind us that digital safety is not
merely absence of fraud but presence of calm, trust, and dignity in
financial life.
🛠️ How to Observe Both Days
On September 21 – International
Day of Peace:
- Pause for a minute of silence at noon.
- Join a community walk or vigil.
- Share a story of tolerance online.
On April 11 – Safe ePay Day
(Proposed):
- Celebrate UPI’s birthday by making a
safe digital payment.
- Educate elders and children about avoiding
scams.
- Update PINs and enable two-factor
authentication.
- Thank innovators who made digital trust
possible.
🌐 The Corporate Connection
Just as companies like IKEA or
Toyota celebrate Peace Day with internal events promoting workplace
harmony, banks and fintechs could adopt Safe ePay Day. Imagine:
- SBI hosting user awareness
drives.
- Paytm launching a digital safety
hackathon.
- Google Pay reminding users of
secure habits.
Peace is good for people. Safe
ePayments are good for economies. Both are good for business.
🕊️💳 Dual Vision for the Future
The peace dove and the payment
lock icon may come from different worlds, but both are guardians of trust.
- On September 21, we dream of nations
at peace.
- On April 11, we dream of wallets at
peace.
Together, they remind us that peace
is not just the absence of violence — it is the presence of trust.
✨ Conclusion: Building a Culture of Peace
Everywhere
The International Day of Peace
reminds us that peace must be cultivated through dialogue, fairness, and
safety. The proposed Safe ePay Day teaches us that in the digital world,
peace must be cultivated through security, awareness, and trust.
By observing both, we create a dual
culture of peace:
- Peace in society.
- Peace in digital finance.
April 11 and September 21 are not
opposites — they are complements. One celebrates UPI’s revolution in
safe payments. The other celebrates humanity’s revolution in non-violence.
Both tell us: peace begins wherever trust is built.
🕊️ Peace in
the world.
💳 Peace in the wallet.
✨ Together, they shape tomorrow.
🌿💳🧠🌍Appeal for Safe ePay Day 🌟
## Call to Action
I urge governments, financial institutions, businesses, and
communities worldwide to join hands in declaring April 11 as **Safe ePay Day**.
Let’s celebrate UPI’s milestone by making **Safe ePay Day** a
global movement for secure, innovative fintech.
Together, we can build a future where financial access is
universal, and every e-payment is safe—starting with **Safe ePay Day** in 2026.
No Vada Pav,
not even one bite,
Till SafeePay Day takes off in flight.
Quirky vow with a Mumbai flair—
Announce the date, and I’ll be there!
📌
References
1. Nayakanti,
P. (2025, September 7). September 07 — National Buy a Book Day and April 11
— Safe ePay Day: Building Trust, One Page and One Payment at a Time.
Medium.
Retrieved from https://medium.com/@nshantin/september-07-national-buy-a-book-day-and-april-11-safe-epay-day-building-trust-one-80483f34d7e7
2. Nayakanti,
P. (2025, August 13). 218th Lalbagh Flower Show via RV Road Interchange!
Innovation in Banking.
Retrieved from https://innovationinbanking.blogspot.com/2025/08/august-13-metro-rides-blooms-218th.html
3. Prashant
Nayakanti. (n.d.). LinkedIn profile. Retrieved September 2025, from
https://in.linkedin.com/in/prashantnayakanti
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