Jan Dhan account deposits rise to over Rs 64,000 crore

Aggregate deposits in Jan Dhan accounts have increased to Rs 64,252.15 crore as on the eighth day after the announcement of demonetisation of high-value currency, Parliament was informed on Friday.

"As on November 16, 25.58 crore accounts with aggregate deposits of Rs 64,252.15 crore have been opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) across the country," Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

Uttar Pradesh leads among the states with 3.79 crore account holders and deposits of Rs 10,670.62 crore, followed by West Bengal with 2.44 accounts and deposits of Rs 7,826.44 crore.

Rajasthan follows at third place with 1.89 crore accounts and deposits of Rs 5,345.57 crore.

The minister said that out of 25.58 crore accounts, 5.98 crore, or just over 23 per cent, are zero balance accounts.

He also said that no state-run banks had given any instructions to their officials to deposit Re 1 or Rs 2 to avoid zero balance in Jan Dhan accounts, which have been introduced to promote financial inclusion .

"Banks have been asked to ensure linkage of all Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts with the Aadhaar number in a time-bound manner. PMJDY envisages channelising all government benefits to the beneficiaries to all accounts opened under the Yojana and thus trying to bring down the zero balance in such accounts by transferring Direct Benefit Transfer," he added.

--IANS

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