VAIBHAV PARWAT
Aurangabad, Aug 28:
Under the Prime Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), more than seven and a half lakh accounts have been opened in Aurangabad district in the last seven years. The scheme was launched all over the country on August 28, 2014. However, nearly 25 to 30 per cent accounts have turned dormant.
The scheme was launched with an aim to provide universal access to banking facilities to the people in the country. Accounts opened under PMJDY are Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) accounts with additional features of RuPay debit card and overdraft. There is no requirement of maintaining minimum balance in 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 August 28, 2018. Besides, the overdraft limit facility was also doubled to Rs 10,000. According to the officials of the lead bank, Jan-Dhan Yojana accounts have been mostly used for availing the benefits of government schemes, get gas-cylinder subsidy, direct benefit transfer and availing Mudra Yojana along with various insurance schemes. However, 40 per cent people still do not have bank accounts, most of them are not aware of this scheme. Even now, the government agencies have succeeded in opening bank accounts for only 50 per cent of the population of the district. More than 7.50 lakh citizens have opened accounts in the branches of more than 300 small and big private and government banks in the district.
Money transferred during covid
The PMJDY became an important instrument to provide relief to the poor under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package that was announced on March 26. The package provided an amount of Rs 500 per month for three months to women PMJDY account holders. Over 4 lakh women account holders received more than Rs 20 crore under the package.
2.20 lakh dormant accounts
In August, about 2.20 lakh accounts were inoperative in the district. As per the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), a PMJDY account is treated as inoperative, if there are no customer induced transactions in the account for over a period of two years. From these accounts, 60 per cent inactive accounts are from urban areas.
Various benefits to account holders
Many suggest that the lure for people to use bank accounts is benefits attached to the Jan-Dhan, which includes no requirement to maintain any minimum balance. In addition, the account also provides a RuPay debit card with an overdraft facility of Rs 10,000. There is also an inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh in the RuPay card.
Zero accidental insurance claims
The accounts holders are issued indigenous debit cards with free accident insurance coverage of Rs 2 lakh. However, the officials claim that the number of insurance proposals received under the scheme is nearly zero.