As over 20 crore women account-holders of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana gear up to withdraw the ₹500 that was credited into their accounts on Friday as part of the Covid-19 relief package, Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla has directed State Chief Secretaries to ensure strict compliance of Department of Financial Services (DFS) guidelines.
All necessary steps to ensure smooth disbursal of money to the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PM-GKY) are to be taken, and the concerned departments of the State government/Union Territory administration, district authorities and field agencies may be informed for strict compliance of DFS guidelines, Bhalla said in a letter to the Chief Secretaries of States.
Also, the State Chief Secretaries have been directed to provide adequate security personnel at bank branches and business correspondents to maintain law and order and social distancing.
Staggered payments
It may be recalled that the DFS had on Wednesday put out guidelines that mandated a system of staggering of account holders to avoid crowding and maintaining social distancing when beneficiaries come to bank branches or banking correspondent centres or ATMs.
Under the DFS-approved system, based on the last digit of the account number of the beneficiaries, SMSes will be sent to those beneficiaries whose mobile number is seeded in the account. Such SMSes will also indicate the day on which the beneficiary has to come to bank branches/BCs for withdrawal of the money.
For instance, those with account numbers ending with 0 or 1 should turn up to the bank branch/BC on April 3 and those with accounts ending 2 or 3 should do it on April 4. For those with accounts ending with 4 or 5, the assigned date for withdrawal is April 7. Similarity the date of withdrawal for accounts ending with 6 or 7 is April 8 and in the case of accounts ending with 8 or 9, the withdrawal date is April 9.
The DFS had also directed the local administration to provide adequate security personnel at bank branches and BCs to maintain the law and order and the social distancing.
Meanwhile, sources in the financial inclusion industry said that the government has done well to stagger the payment to ₹500 each month instead of giving the entire ₹1,500 at one go. Although a one-time credit would have avoided multiple visits to bank branches when social distancing is the need of the hour, it could have created cash problems at bank branches and BC outlets, they said.
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