Jan Dhan Yojana- Big news for common people of India. There is a big update revealed regarding Jan Dhan Yojana. The Finance Ministry on Tuesday, July 8, clarified that it has not given any instructions to banks to close inactive accounts of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). This clarification comes after media reports claimed that the government has asked banks to close such accounts.
“The Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance has clarified that it has not asked banks to close inactive Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana accounts,” the ministry statement said.
Three month long nationwide campaign
According to the statement, from July 1, DFS has started a three-month campaign across the country. Its aim is to further strengthen the reach of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana and other welfare schemes. During this campaign, banks have been asked to re-KYC the due accounts. DFS continuously monitors the status of inactive Jan Dhan accounts. It has advised banks to contact the concerned account holders so that their accounts can be reactivated.
The statement also said, ‘There has been a steady increase in the number of PMJDY accounts and the Department of Financial Services has not received any information on large-scale closure of inactive accounts.’
What is Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana?
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched on 28 August 2014. Its objective is to connect every household in the country, especially the poor and unorganized class, with banking services. Under this scheme, any person can open a zero-balance savings account in any bank. With this, they get benefits like RuPay debit card, accidental insurance of Rs 2 lakh, life cover of Rs 30,000 and government subsidy through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
The aim of Jan Dhan Yojana is to promote financial literacy, motivate people to save and provide them credit and insurance facilities. It is one of the world’s largest financial inclusion schemes. So far, more than 54.58 crore people have joined it.
What is Jan Dhan account?
Actually, some media reports claimed that the central government has advised public sector banks to review the accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PM Jan Dhan Yojana) which have been inactive for a long time. According to this, out of the total accounts, 11.3 crore accounts (23%) were inactive till December 2024, which will be closed.