Under the scheme, which seeks to open 75 million accounts by January 26, 2015, an accident insurance cover of Rs 100,000 is provided with every RuPay debit card offered by the National Payments Corporation of India.
An accident insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh is also given to all individuals who open a bank account under the Jan-Dhan Yojana.
The government is giving adequate publicity to the benefit to be extended to account holders, sources added.
During a video conference with the executive directors of both private and public sector banks, the banks were directed by the government to open at least one account for an adult member of every household.
Against National Democratic Alliance's 75 million target, United Progressive Alliance added 61 million in 2013-14.
"The PMJDY has been the foundation stone for the Modi government's people-centric economic initiatives. "Whether it is direct benefit transfers, Covid-19 financial assistance, PM-KISAN, increased wages under MGNREGA, life and health insurance cover, the first step was to provide every adult with a bank account, which PMJDY has nearly completed," Nirmala Sitharaman said on the sixth anniversary of the scheme.
The problem is set to grow following issuance of 75 million new RuPay cards in the next six months with the launch of the Jan Dhan Yojana.
There were concerns that simply opening a bank account wouldn't constitute meaningful financial inclusion, as the poor would rarely use these accounts. However, recent data submitted to Parliament attests to increased account usage, says Ishan Bakshi.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) has offered to help in monitoring of the progress made with regard to Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the flagship financial inclusion scheme of the government.
Based on the credit history banks may later decide to extend the amount.
The Finance Minister said government's target was not villages only but cover every household of every village under the PMJDY.
The Jan-Dhan accounts are zero balance accounts, comes with a life cover of Rs 30,000 per person, and an accidental cover of Rs 100,000. An active user of the account can also get overdraft facility of Rs 5,000 from banks.
State-owned banks have received guidance from the government to close Jan Dhan accounts whose beneficiaries are unwilling to keep them active, amid rising instances of such accounts being misused by fraudsters as mule accounts to defraud people, people aware of the development said.
The first stage of the inclusion strategy was focussed on opening bank accounts, logically seen as creating the last-mile channels for financial access.
In addition to the problem of long queues at automated teller machines, there would be the problem of guiding new cardholders, especially in rural and semi-urban areas, on how to use those cards, some bankers told Business Standard.
The government plans a mega launch of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 28, which is likely to see opening of one crore bank accounts on the first day itself.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the National Rural Livelihood Mission has achieved remarkable success by mobilising rural women into 1 lakh SHGs (self help groups).
The two states account for 24% of total accounts opened under financial inclusion scheme.
In a world fractured by uncertainty, India stands out for its policy consistency, paired with sustained ambition, points out Pritam Banerjee.
The RBI Governor had earlier cautioned the banks on the risks involved in just hunting for numbers, asking them not to compromise on core objectives of the programme.
The announcement comes on the first anniversary of the project.
The overdraft facility has been sanctioned in only 40,000 accounts
All Jan Dhan bank accounts should be linked to Aadhaar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday while asking bankers to speed up this process and redouble efforts on financial literacy.
Bankers have hailed the Prime Minister's call to end "financial untouchability" and opened millions of accounts on the inaugural day itself.
The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana scheme will help eradicate poverty and curb corruption at the grassroot level, industry said.
The department of financial services has decided to give banks commission, to ensure these accounts are kept active.
The government is working to provide healthcare schemes to poor people under the Jan Dhan initiative.
Swachch Bharat and Jan Dhan grabbed more eyeballs across clusters, regardless of party in power across states.
Led by state-run banks, the system has opened over 5 crore (50 million) accounts under the Jan Dhan scheme as of September 25 and the deposits collected through the scheme have crossed Rs 3,500 crore, Financial Services Secretary GS Sandhu told the annual meeting of the Indo-American Chamber.
As per the latest finance ministry data, the total balance in over 36.06 crore Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts was at Rs 1,00,495.94 crore as on July 3.
The next generation GST reforms would 'absolutely' set an economy open and transparent with further reduction in compliance burden and benefiting small businesses, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.
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Private banks account for a total of 21.15 per cent in terms of advances in the overall banking system.
The CBDT has begun the process of matching the deposits in accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), or Jan-Dhan accounts, with the profile of the depositors.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched his government's mega scheme ' Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana', declaring that it was aimed at eradicating financial untouchability by providing bank accounts to the poor.
Fully know your customer-complaint Jan Dhan account holders will be allowed to withdraw Rs 10,000 per month from their account, while limited or Non KYC compliant account holders can withdraw Rs 5,000 per month.
The total balance in 255 million Jan Dhan accounts now stands at Rs 66,637 crore against Rs 45,637 crore on November 9.
In view of the "runaway success" of the scheme, now it has been decided to make it open-ended with more incentives
Taking a dig at the system, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said things have started moving in India under him and the Jan Dhan scheme was being implemented at a rapid pace despite initial reluctance of RBI and bureaucracy.
Discussions are on in government about how to make the process simpler for the poor and more cost-effective for telecom operators, says Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
Concerned over the rise in mis-selling of products by banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is examining whether to come up with norms to curb such practices. Observing that pushing financial products, such as insurance, indiscriminately to unaware consumers may be detrimental to their well-being, RBI Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao said, "We are examining whether it necessitates framing of guidelines to address mis-selling of financial products and services by REs (regulated entities)."
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