The Finance Ministry has begun crediting the second (May) instalment of ₹500 to the women account holders of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) as part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyana Package ( PMGKP), a top official said.
“Instalment of ₹500 for the month of May has been sent to the bank A/Cs of PMJDY women beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package. Beneficiaries are requested to follow the schedule shared below to visit banks and CSPs. Money can also be withdrawn via ATMs and Business Correspondents”, the Department of Financial Services Secretary Debasish Panda tweeted on Saturday.
The money in the bank is safe, and there is no need to rush for withdrawal, the DFS has said. For bank accounts ending with 0 and 1, the date of disbursal will be May 4. It will be May 5 for those with bank accounts ending on 2 and 3; May 6 for those with bank accounts ending with 4 and 5. Those with bank accounts ending with 6 and 7 can get their monies on May 8, and the date of disbursal will be May 11 for those with bank accounts ending with 8 and 9. After May 11, beneficiaries may withdraw any day at their convenience. This will help in ensuring social distancing and avoiding overcrowding in banks.
It may be recalled that the Centre had in April disbursed through direct benefit transfer (DBT) the first instalment of ₹500 to 20.05 crore PMJDY women beneficiaries involving an aggregate amount of ₹10,025 crore as part of PMGKY. In all, the Government intends to transfer ₹1,500 to each PMJDY woman beneficiary over three instalments under the PMGKP. More than 38 crore accounts have been opened under PMJDY as on April 1, 2020.
Using the digital payment infrastructure, more than 33 crore poor people have been directly given financial assistance of ₹31,235 crore (as of April 22, 2020) under ₹1.7 lakh crore PMGKP announced by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26 to protect them from the impact of the lockdown due to Covid-19.