Jan Dhan Yojana gets an overwhelming response, Modi govt now raises target to 10 crore

New Delhi, Nov 27: Enthused by initial response, the government has revised upwards target for opening of accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) from 7.5 crore to 10 crore by January 26.

"This will amount to opening of one account for each household in the country," an official statement said.

As per the latest figure, about 8 crore accounts have been opened under the flagship financial inclusion scheme of the government. In a review meeting held yesterday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the officers that Aadhar card numbers may also be seeded with

accounts as the same will help in directly transferring the subsidies to the bank accounts of the desired sections of the society under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme.

It was informed that 7.64 crore bank accounts have been already opened under PMJDY till November 18, out of which Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have opened 6.15 crore accounts, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) 1.28 crore accounts and private sector banks 20 lakh accounts.

Jaitley called for more active participation by the private sector banks under PMJDY. In terms of deposits, Rs 6,015 crore has been collected upto November 18 under the scheme. However, the growth has moderated after September 30. Out of 7.64 crore accounts opened till November 18, 5.74 crore accounts opened are zero balance accounts.

The Finance Minister told bankers that efforts be made to raise the deposit level in the zero balance accounts through financial literacy programme. Stressing the need to ensure transactions in these zero balance accounts, he called for dovetailing of various Central and State Schemes in the PMJDY accounts to help increase transaction/deposits in these accounts.

Bankers have been asked to ensure availability and activation of RuPay cards issued under PMJDY, he said, adding there is a possibility of integration of PMJDY with National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) through convergence with Self Help Groups and integration of MGNREGA Scheme with DBT.

It was informed that Madhya Pradesh has already achieved more than 90 per cent of the target of opening of accounts under PMJDY and is likely to achieve the target of 100 per cent soon.

PTI