The total number of accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has surpassed the 50 crore mark. This comes almost nine years after the launch of the National Financial Inclusion Mission – popularly known as Jan Dhan Yojana – on August 28, 2014.
56% of those accounts belong to women and 67% of the accounts were opened in rural or semi-urban areas, the Treasury said, citing the banks’ latest reports.
Deposits in these accounts exceeded ₹2.03 lakh crore as of August 9, 2023, the ministry said. About 34 crore RuPay cards were issued free of charge in these accounts.
The average balance on PMJDY accounts is ₹4,076 and more than 5.5 crore PMJDY accounts receive Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) benefits.
“The PMJDY program has successfully transformed the country’s financial landscape, leading to near saturation of adult bank accounts. The success of PMJDY lies in the comprehensive nature of the program and its attempt to connect the last mile to the formal banking system “through technology, collaboration and innovation,” says the Treasury Department.
PMJDY offers numerous benefits to account holders such as: B. A bank account with no minimum balance, free RuPay debit cards with built-in accident insurance of ₹2 lakh and an overdraft facility of up to ₹10,000.
This comes a day after RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das launched a centralized web portal UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits – Gateway to Access Information) for the public to help them search for their unclaimed deposits at multiple banks in one place and to facilitate .
Given the rising trend in the amount of unclaimed deposits, RBI conducts educational campaigns from time to time to raise public awareness of this issue. Additionally, through these initiatives, RBI has encouraged the public to identify and contact their respective banks to recover unclaimed deposits.
The total amount of unclaimed deposits transferred from public sector banks (PSBs) to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for deposits unattended for 10 years or more was ₹35,012 crore. State Bank of India (SBI) had the highest amount of unclaimed deposits at ₹8,086 crore, followed by Punjab National Bank (PNB) at ₹5,340 crore and Bank of Baroda at ₹3,904 crore.
In April, Minister of State at the Treasury Bhagwat Karad said banks are required to conduct an annual review of accounts where no transactions have taken place for more than a year and determine the reasons for this.
