Rs 22,000 cr mobilised under PMJDY: Govt

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 28

Over 17.5 crore bank accounts have been opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) and more than Rs 22,000 crore has been deposited in these accounts.

It is the biggest financial inclusion initiative in the world and has completed its first anniversary today.

The government said the scheme is a game changer for the Indian economy. It has created a platform for inculcating the habit of saving money, providing formal credit facilities, plugging leakages in public subsidies and welfare programmes.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said as the next step, the aim is to utilise these accounts for extending insurance, pension and credit facilities to those who are currently excluded from these benefits.

The Finance Ministry said Aadhaar number has been seeded in 41.82% of accounts opened under the scheme.

More than 10 lakh accounts have been found eligible for the overdraft facility. Out of these, overdraft facility has been availed by 1.64 lakh account holders.

Taking the financial inclusion theme to insurance, 8.17 crore beneficiaries have been enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and 2.76 crore under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana. As many as 6.83 lakh account holders have been enrolled under Atal Pension Yojana.