As Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes one year in office, the response to one of his flagship schemes — the Jan Dhan Yojana — has been excellent. Madhya Pradesh achieved its target of 100 per cent enrolment before the deadline.
Rajaram Chandel and his wife Sunayna, residents of Vidisha district, who were at a Government-run bank to collect their pin numbers for their debit cards issued under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, while talking to The Pioneer said, “I have started saving money from what I earn. The insurance money will help my children in case something happens to me. Also, with this facility I can get a loan.”
Gangaram, who has never been to school, works as a daily wage labourer, but both him and his wife understand the benefits of enrolling under the flagship scheme.
Vidisha is the first district of Madhya Pradesh to achieve 100 per cent enrollments under Jan Dhan Yojana — 3,30,000 people are part of this scheme now. The MP Government for the first time has given farmers compensation for crop loss this year through Jan Dhan Bank accounts.
“The villagers were quite enthusiastic about opening accounts. The scheme is already benefiting the people. We have given them compensation for crop damage in their Jan Dhan Yojana bank accounts,” said Vidisha Collector MB Ojha.
What seems to be working for this scheme is the high levels of awareness about it, even in remote villages. Many who already have accounts, are thinking of opening a second one under the scheme.
Jaideep Sharma of Sukhi village said, “Many from my village have opened bank accounts under the scheme. I did not enroll as I already had an account. But now I feel I should as there are a lot of benefits like loan insurance etc. It’s a good scheme.”
The scheme which promises a host of benefits also has a flip side. Banks officials implementing the scheme say they just don’t have the man power to get all the paperwork done on time. So in many places, beneficiaries have not been issued pass books as yet and have to access their accounts through kiosk centers.
Had it been completed, the university would have been offering research and studies in Information Technology. Banking upon the project, State Government had announced Acharpura village area as special education hub with a plan to invest `71 crore for developing the total 140 acre area. “As many as 19 educational institutes were expected in the zone,” the Government source said.