As many as 10.56 lakh bank accounts have been opened in Punjab since the launch of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) scheme. Out of new accounts, more than six lakh accounts have been opened in rural areas. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, while reviewing the progress of the scheme, on Monday asked the bankers to complete the task of opening accounts under this financial inclusion scheme by December 15, 2014.
Badal asked the Convener of State level Bankers' Committee (SlBC) to coordinate with the Principal Secretary Finance Vini Mahajan, who has been designated as the Mission Director to accomplish the task of opening accounts in the rural and urban areas.
He also directed the Mission Director to rope in the services of Director Census to provide latest available data on the basis of 2011-Census to bankers to implement the scheme effectively.
Badal also emphasised the need to create awareness amongst people about benefits of scheme so that people who had so far remained excluded from banking fold could now have bank accounts.
The Chief Minister asked the departments of local Government, Rural Development and Panchayats and Social Security to involve the field staff of municipal corporations and councils, BDPOs and panachyat secretaries and anganwadi workers to help the bankers in mobilising the households for getting their accounts opened in the nearest camps organised by them under the scheme.
Badal also directed the Divisional Commissioners, nodal officers for effective implementation of the scheme in the state, to ensure that the group of villages or wards was assigned to individual officers, who would in turn coordinate with banks for the opening of these accounts.
He asked the Mission Director and SlBC convener to chalk out the modalities to ensure the financial empowerment of the people especially the women living below the poverty line in the rural areas of the state by opening their accounts under the scheme.
The necessary directions had already been issued to all the Cabinet Ministers and Chief Parliamentary Secretaries to monitor the progress of the scheme at their own level, stated Badal.
Under Jan Dhan Yojna scheme, each household would have at least one bank account which would be opened with zero balance. The bank account would provide basic banking services with overdraft facility of Rs 5,000 after six months of opening the account. It would also entitle the account holder with a RuPay Debit Card with inbuilt accidental insurance cover of Rs one lakh.