A deposit of Rs. 20769.33 crore has been mobilised in the accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the Ministry of Finance said.
Zero balance accounts in PMJDY have declined from 76% to 46.93% from September 2014 to July 2015.
Moreover, Rupay card has been issued to 15.26 crore beneficiaries who will get a benefit of personal accidental insurance of Rs. 1.00 lakh under the Yojana, the ministry said.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) across the country on on 28 August 2014.
Several steps have been taken for reduction of zero balance accounts. Some of these which have yielded good results are:-
i. Weekly monitoring of progress of PMJDY through Video Conference (VC) by Senior Officers in Ministry of Finance. For this purpose all the banks – Public Sector Banks and Major Private Sector Banks join the VC along with other stakeholders like NPCI, UIDAI and IBA. Sometimes officers from other Ministries like Ministry of Petroleum & Ministry of Rural Development also join the VC to sort out the issues with Banks regarding Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes implemented by them.
ii. Monitoring and follow-up of branches having more than 70% zero balance accounts, by banks and PMJDY Mission team on weekly basis.
iii. Launch of transaction based Incentive Schemes for Bank Mitras.
iv. Organising special campaigns in the areas with high concentration of zero balance accounts along with financial Literacy counter, to educate customers on benefits of balance in the accounts.
v. Launch of Jansuraksha Schemes namely PMJJBY, PMSBY & APY, with auto debit facility for availing the benefit of the schemes.
vi. Encouraging the customers to do regular savings to be eligible for Overdraft facility under PMJDY.
