The total deposits in bank accounts opened under the Jan Dhan scheme are set to cross Rs 1 lakh crore soon. Government data claimed that the cumulative balance in 35.29 crore accounts under the flagship programme of the Modi government reached Rs 97,665.66 crore as on April 3.
The total deposits in Jan Dhan accounts stood at Rs 96,107.35 crore on March 27 and Rs 95,382.14 crore in the week before, government data showed. Rupay debit cards have been issued to a total of 27.89 crore Jan Dhan account holders, as per government records.
The Modi government launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) on August 28, 2014, with universal banking access in focus. More than half of the Jan Dhan account holders are women, while nearly 59 per cent accounts are from rural and semi-urban areas.
Four years after its launch, the government enhanced the accident insurance cover under the scheme to Rs 2 lakh from the earlier Rs 1 lakh in 2018. The overdraft limit in Jan Dhan was doubled to Rs 10,000 in September 2018. The government also changed its focus from offering bank to every household to every unbanked adult.
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 and pension to weaker sections and low-income groups.
The PMJDY also envisages channelling all government benefits to the beneficiary accounts and pushing the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme of the central government.
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