Ranchi:The Prime Minister's Digital India dream is being jolted out of slumber in the Jharkhand capital.

Almost all amusement and wildlife parks in the city and its outskirts have turned their back on cashless transaction, with excuses ranging from not enough revenue to install point-of-sale machines to poor connectivity and frequent network failure.

Amresh Kumar, a multipurpose health worker, found himself in a predicament at Chotanagpur Fun Castle on Ratu Road on Monday.

"I had taken my three children and niece to the amusement park. The cost of each ticket for 10 joyrides was Rs 160. When I gave the person at the counter my debit card, he said cashless transaction was not on offer. Since I didn't have so much cash on me, the kids were deprived," said the resident of Harmu.

Studded with fun rides like the sulking car, the caterpillar, the tornado, the hara-kiri, the dragon coaster and the sky train, the park sees a daily average footfall of 2,000 every winter.

Sambhu Sarkar, a medical representative and resident of Tharpakhna, claimed that none of the city parks accepted bank cards for that matter.

"If you have cash crunch, you will land in trouble. Convincing children that they cannot enjoy a ride despite being in the park is a big thing. Once, I had to walk home from an amusement park because I had no cash left even for an auto-rickshaw fare," he recalled.

Forest department employee Rajesh Kumar echoed Sarkar. "The efforts to make India cashless doesn't seem to have reached our parks. I have not witnessed card transaction, let alone e-wallets like Paytm, at any park since demonetisation (in November 2016). Only cash works at Rock Garden, Sido Kanhu Park, Machhli Ghar, Nigam Park and elsewhere," said the Vidyanagar resident.

Manoj Gupta had found himself in a spot last week when he visited Birsa Munda Biological Park in Ormanjhi. The Ranchi zoo offers cashless transaction, but only on paper. It routinely suffers from network failure and the staff prefer to take cash.

"I noticed a card swipe machine, but people at the counter expressed their inability to accept cards, saying there was no network," Gupta said.

Director of Chotanagpur Fun Castle Nitesh Shahdeo conceded that they had deliberately shelved the cashless transaction project because it, ironically, consumed more time.

"We had started accepting cards, but soon realised the hassle. Poor network led to long and chaotic queues in rush season. Since ticket prices are affordable, we decided to return to cash transactions," Shahdeo added.

Owner of Machhli Ghar Pratul Shahdeo claimed they had introduced Paytm. "Accepting cards can be troublesome at times, but we offer Paytm service," he said.

It goes without saying that many people who visit amusement parks do not own smartphones and hence, do not use Paytm or other e-wallets.

Do you know of any other tourist spot that does not offer cashless transactions? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com