Jan Dhan Yojana Duplicacy: The Finance Minister has instructed the banks regarding the irregularities in the account opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and has asked them to remove it…
All is not going well in the Central Government’s ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, launched to promote financial inclusion in the country and to reach the bank to the unbanked people. It was already suspected that there were irregularities in opening accounts under this scheme. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has recently asked banks to take strict steps.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a review meeting of regional rural banks on Wednesday. During the review meeting with the heads of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), he said that there are complaints of duplication in accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. He directed the regional banks to take steps to prevent duplication in these accounts.
Instructions to increase Mudra Scheme
During this, Finance Minister Sitharaman stressed the need to increase penetration under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) and financial inclusion. He said that a framework will have to be prepared to complete these programs on time. According to the statement, the Finance Minister asked RRB heads to take steps to remove duplication in Jan Dhan accounts. He asked the banks to give loans to apple growers in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh for storage facilities.
RRB’s share
The central government has 50 percent stake in RRBs, while 35 percent is held by the sponsor bank and the remaining 15 percent by the state government. During the review meeting, Finance Minister Sitharaman also talked about increasing the digital capacity of RRBs. He asked the MD & CEO of Punjab National Bank to ensure that all RRBs of his bank acquire the capability to connect people digitally by November 1, 2023.
Current status of the scheme
Talking about Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, it was launched by the Central Government in the year 2014. Under this scheme, till now 50.18 crore beneficiaries have deposited money in banks. Currently Rs 2.03 lakh crore is deposited in Prime Minister Jan Dhan accounts. Many benefits including insurance are available from the government on this zero balance account.
