PM's Jan Dhan Yojana launched in Uttar Pradesh

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, the flagship scheme of the union government, was launched in Uttar Pradesh Thursday.

The scheme was kicked off by union Home Minister and Lok Sabha member from Lucknow Rajnath Singh in the state capital, and by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Kalraj Mishra in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Minister of State for Water Resources Santosh Gangwar launched it in Bareilly, while Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha launched it in Allahabad.

During the launch in Lucknow, Rajnath Singh termed the day "momentous".

"The day when we are launching the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana will go down in economic history as a golden day," he said.

The home minister said the scheme will not only boost the country's economy but also make saving a habit for millions of people.

"India will no longer remain one in the top 10 economies of the world but is set to propel itself into the top 3 global economies," Rajnath Singh said.

Prime Minister Modi had announced the scheme to open bank accounts for all citizens of India in his maiden Independence Day address.

The scheme was launched in 77,000 places in 600 districts simultaneously.

On the first day of the scheme, 1.5 crore new accounts will be opened. All account holders will have Rs.1 lakh accident insurance cover too.

In Ghaziabad, 42,756 banks accounts were opened under the scheme, District Magistrate Vimal Kumar Sharma said.

The district magistrate said during the launch that 40 government and private banks of Ghaziabad succeeded in registering the accounts in 13 days.

To achieve this target, the banks organised 40 camps Aug 15-27.

Lok Sabha member from Ghaziabad and Minister of State for External Affairs General (retd) V.K. Singh was present during the launch.

District magistrate Sharma said that through this scheme, the most deprived person of the society has been targetted to bring him under the banking system.

A man who does not have any money in his pocket would now be able to open an account with the scheme's zero-balance system.

One banking operation in a month is sufficient to keep the account active, for which the account holder would be benefitted with Rs.1 lakh accident insurance and Rs.5,000 overdraft.

The account holder will be issued a debit card on opening the account.

To make the system hassle-free, a ration card or a voter identity card would be a sufficient evidence for the account. Even a letter from the village head would work for opening the account, he added.