PM Modi's ambitious Jan Dhan Yojna makes it to Guinness Book of World Records

New Delhi, Jan 20: In a major boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has made it to Guinness World Records for opening maximum number of bank accounts.

Banks have opened more than 11 crore accounts under the ambitious financial inclusion scheme PMJDY and have collected about Rs 9,031 crore through these accounts.

Guinness World Records shall present a citation to Secretarty, Department of Financial Services for this remarkable achievement.

"We employed a mix of both push and pull factors. All banks were taken on board and simultaneously, tight monitoring mechanisms were put in place," Hasmukh Adhia, Secretary Department of Financial Services, told media persons here.

Addressing a press conference, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, "The objective of PMJDY was to reach the maximum number of people. Bank employees, particularly from public sector banks, too played a very significant role."

As of January 16, 11.43 crore accounts were opened by banks across the country. Of this, 8.24 crore accounts had zero balance.

Public sector banks alone opened 9.06 crore accounts, followed by regional rural banks which opened about 2 crore accounts. 13 private sector banks together open just 36 lakh accounts.

Banks have achieved the target set by the government to open 10 crore accounts under the PMJDY scheme a month before the January 26 deadline.

OneIndia News

(With inputs from PTI)