Punjab to bring the poor under banking ambit by Nov

Having opened around 600,000 new accounts under 'Pardhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna' in the state, Punjab is targeting to bring the remaining households under the banking ambit by this month. According to a survey done jointly by deputy commissioners and banks, there are around 182,000 new accounts yet to be opened.

Speaking to Business Standard, a senior official in Punjab government informed that out of the total 22 districts in the state, seven districts - Kapurthala, Mohali, Taran Tarn, Faridkot, Moga, Nawanashaher, Pathankot - are saturated; all the unbanked households have been already brought under the banking ambit.

"We have opened around 600,000 new accounts across the state till November 7. Further, deputy commissioners and banks jointly conducted a survey of all the families in their respective districts to ascertain the number of families who do not have banking facilities for better targeting of the scheme. According to our survey, there are 182,000 accounts yet to be opened which is likely to be done by November 16," he added.

According to SLBC (State Level Bankers Committee) data in Punjab, 95.7 per cent of the total rural households (as per 2001 census) were covered as on June 30, 2014 under financial exclusion plan. As far as urban areas were concerned, it was 95.5 per cent.

It may be recalled that under this 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 1 lakh. Those who open their accounts before January 26, 2015 would also be entitled for health insurance worth Rs 30,000.

He added that since it was the flagship programme of the government of India, the state government was duty bound to implement it in right earnest, the fruits of development and prosperity could percolate to the grassroots level. For the purpose, the convener of SLBC is coordinating with the principal secretary in finance, Vini Mahajan, who has been posted as the mission director to accomplish the gigantic task of opening these accounts in rural and urban areas with an integrated approach to speed up the process.