2 mn people join modified Jan Dhan Yojana: Govt data

: As many as two lakh people have joined the modified Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), taking the total number of account holders in the flagship financial inclusion programme to 326.1 million as on September 5, according to finance ministry data.

The government earlier this month relaunched PMJDY as an open-ended scheme with higher insurance cover and double the overdraft (OD) facility.

The Union Cabinet decided to continue the scheme beyond the four-year period ended August 14 with an aim to take the formal banking system from “every household to every adult”.

During the August 15-September 5 period, the total deposits in 32.61 PMJDY accounts witnessed an increase of ₹1,266.43 crore. The balance in PMJDY accounts was ₹82,490.98 crore as on September 5. Under the revamped scheme, accidental insurance cover for new RuPay card holders has been raised from ₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh for new PMJDY accounts opened after August 28.

Also, the existing OD limit of ₹5,000 has been increased to ₹10,000. Further, no conditions will be attached for OD up to ₹2,000.

The data also showed that nearly 718,000 people, who opened PMJDY account after August 28, may get the benefit of increased accidental insurance cover of ₹2 lakh.

Launched in August 2014, the first phase of PMJDY focussed on opening basic bank accounts and RuPay debit card with in-built accident insurance cover of ₹1 lakh. Besides, it provided Basic Banking Accounts with OD facility of ₹5,000 after six months.

About 53% of PMJDY account holders are women, while 83% of the total accounts are seeded with Aadhaar.

NEW DELHI THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ACCOUNT HOLDERS IN FLAGSHIP FINANCIAL INCLUSION PROGRAMME HAS REACHED 326.1 MN, SAYS FINANCE MINISTRY