The bank branch that performs best in the financial inclusion scheme ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana’ will be recognised by none other than the Prime Minister himself. The scheme is scheduled to be launched on August 28.
In an email to all bank officers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “Put your shoulder to the wheel and try your level best to ensure that no one is left without a bank account. This itself will be a source of immense satisfaction for you and your teams.
“I will myself recognise the achievements of the best performing branches.” He also offered all his support to bank officials in implementing the scheme.
The scheme aims to provide bank accounts to each un-banked household. It is estimated that around 7.5 crore households ( six crore in rural and 1.5 crore in urban areas) do not have access to any kind of banking facility. Under the new scheme, each account-holder will get a RuPay debit card with accident insurance cover of ₹1 lakh. In the second phase, each of these account-holders will also get life insurance cover and pension products.
The Prime Minister termed the opening of bank accounts for each household as a national priority and a ‘gigantic exercise’.
“We must rise to meet this challenge. There is an urgency to this exercise as all other development activities are hindered by this single disability. I am sure we will overcome this situation collectively,” he said.
He said this scheme lay at the core of the government’s development philosophy of ‘ Sab Ka Sath, Sab Ka Vikas .’ He said as the nation moves rapidly ahead in the knowledge era with modern banking and financial systems, it is untenable that a large majority of our population is deprived of basic banking facilities.
“I sometimes wonder whether we have made matters so complicated that the poor and the marginalised are those who are trapped in a perpetual cycle of exclusion and deprivation. We need to break that cycle and the Jan Dhan Yojana is the first step in that direction.
Moneylenders’ grasp“With a bank account, every household gains access to banking and credit facilities. This will enable them to come out of the grip of moneylenders,” he said.
The scheme will be launched formally by the Prime Minister in Delhi with parallel functions at the State-level, which will be attended by Union Ministers, and also at district and sub-district levels. Camps will also be organised at the bank branch level to raise awareness.