Deposits in bank accounts opened under Jan Dhan scheme, launched about five years ago by the Modi-go🌸vernment, have crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark.
As per the latest finance ministry data, the total balance in over 36.06 crore Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accꦇounts was at Rs 🌼1,00,495.94 crore as on July 3.
The d💜eposits in✨ the account of the beneficiaries, which has been steadily rising, was Rs 99,649.84 crore on June 6 and Rs 99,232.71 crore in the week before.
The PMJDY was launched on August 28, 2014, with an aim to provide universal access🍸 to banking facilities to the people in the country.
Accounts opened under PMJDY are Basic Savings Bank Deposit 📖(BSBD) accounts with additional feature of RuPay debit card ꦺand overdraft.
The finance ministry had recently said in the Rajya Sabha, that the number of zero balance accounts under PMJDY declined from 5.10 crore (16.22 per cent of the total accounts) in March 2018 to 5.07 crore (14.37 pe𝄹r cent of 🙈the total accounts) in March 2019.
More than 28.44 crore account holওders have been issued the Rupay debit cards.
There is no requiremeꦡnt of maintaining minimum balance in BSBD accounts.
Enthused by the success of the scheme, the government enhanced the accident insurance cover to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1 lakh for new accounts opened after Auꦑgust 28, 2018.
The overdraft limit has also been doubled to Rs 𝐆10,000.
The government also shifted the focus on accounts from 'every house🦂hold' to 'every un🅰banked adult'.
Over 50 per cent of the Jan Dhan 🐠account holde🐠rs are women.
The objective of PMJDY is to ensure access to various financial services like availability of basic savings bank account, access to need based credit, remittances facility, insurance 𝐆and pension to weaker sections and low income groups.
The PMJDY also envisages channelling all government benefiཧts to the beneficiary accounts and pushin𓆉g the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme of the central government.
(PTI)
