Jan Dhan Yojana Bank Accounts Cross 40 Crore Mark

In almost six years of its launch by the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, more than 40 crore bank accounts have been opened under the government's flagship financial inclusion drive Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). Latest numbers released by the government say that there are now 40.05 crore beneficiaries under this scheme with deposits in excess of Rs 1.30 lakh crore.

"Another milestone achieved under world's largest financial inclusion initiative, PMJDY: Total accounts opened under the scheme crosses 40 Cr. mark. Committed to take financial inclusion to the last mile!," said the Department of Financial Services in a tweet.

The achievement comes just ahead of the sixth anniversary of PMJDY launch. The scheme was launched on 28 August 2014 with an aim to provide universal access to banking facilities to the people in the country.

Accounts opened under PMJDY are called Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) accounts with additional features of RuPay debit card and overdraft. There is no requirement of maintaining minimum balance in these BSBD accounts.

In view of the runaway success of the scheme, the government in 2018 enhanced the accident insurance cover to Rs 2 lakh, from Rs 1 lakh for new accounts opened after 28 August 2018.

Besides, the overdraft limit facility was also doubled to Rs 10,000.

The government also shifted the focus on accounts from "every household" to "every unbanked adult".

Over 50 percent of the Jan Dhan account holders are women and the government as part of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana remitted Rs 1,500 per account in three equal monthly instalments (April to June 2020) to support these women during the COVID-19 crisis.

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, as well as pushing the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme of the central government.