The total deposits in bank accounts opened under the Jan Dhan scheme are soon estimated to surpass Rs 1 lakh crore.
According to official statistics, the cumulative balance deposited in 35.29 crore accounts under the flagship scheme of the Narendra Modi government reached Rs 97,665.66 crore as on April 3.
The total deposits in Jan Dhan accounts reported to be at Rs 96,107.35 crore on March 27 and Rs 95,382.14 crore in the week before, revealed government data.
Rupay debit cards have been given to a total of 27.89 crore Jan Dhan account holders, as quoted by data.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government on August 28, 2014, with focus on universal banking access.
More than half of the account holders under Jan Dhan yojna are women, while nearly 59 percent accounts are from rural and semi-urban areas.
The Centre enhanced certain features of this scheme after four years of its launch and increased the insurance cover under the scheme to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1 lakh in 2018. The overdraft limit in Jan Dhan was also doubled to Rs 10,000 in September 2018.
The government also revised cover 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.
