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The number of beneficiaries under the Centre’s flagship financial inclusion scheme, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has reached 45 crore.
As on March 23, 2022, the beneficiaries were at 45 crore with a cumulative balance of ₹1,63,631 crore. Out of these , women beneficiaries constitute over 25 crore. As per the latest government data, around 30 crore accounts are located in rural and semi urban regions.
“Given the challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic, the surge in the number of accounts is remarkable. Public sector banks, including State Bank of India has played a key role in their financial including mission,’‘ a senior official of State Bank of India told BusinessLine. SBI leads the public sector banks’ performance in implementation of PMJDY with 13,31,366,52 beneficiaries.
In the pandemic period between March 2020-2022, over seven crore accounts were added. According to bankers, the distribution of some of the Covid relief measures, including few benefits of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojan through PMJDY ‘motivated’ public to open accounts.
According to S Nagarajan, General Secretary, All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA), the public sector bank employees worked `hard’ to open new accounts even during the pandemic s. T
“At the field level, automatic overdraft facility being offered to PMJDY beneficiaries has been a hit and is attracting new customers,’‘ said a Manager of Union Bank of India branch in Mahbubnagar district, Telangana.
The Reserve Bank of India’s decision on overdrafts extended by banks up to ₹5,000 in PMJDY eligible for classification under priority sector advances (‘others’ category) helped weaker sections, provided the borrowers annual income does not exceed ₹60,000 for rural areas and ₹1,20 lakh for non-rural areas.
According some bankers, there is also a need to ensure no duplication of accounts and to streamline inoperative accounts under the scheme. As per Ministry of Finance data, 5.82 crore Jan Dhan accounts were inoperative as on third quarter of FY22. The total inoperative accounts for FY22 is yet to be verified.
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