FinMin urges Jan Dhan beneficiaries to follow schedule for withdrawal; avoid rush at banks

The Finance Ministry on Friday appealed to women Jan Dhan account holders to follow the schedule announced by banks for withdrawal of ex-gratia amount, and avoid rush at bank branches to prevent the spread of deadly coronavirus.

All banks from Friday have started remitting Rs 500 to beneficiary accounts in line with the announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week.

"Appealing PMJDY women a/c holders to check last digit of their a/c no. & follow schedule shared below to visit banks, CSP & Bank Mitras. Withdrawal can also be done via any bank's ATM. No charges for using ATM. Let's follow social distancing & fight #corona," Financial Services Secretary Debasish Panda said in a tweet.

Panda also thanked beneficiaries to follow social distancing and other norms while visiting banks.

"Kudos to our #PMJDY women customers for following #socialdistancing and other norms while visiting banks for DBT payments. Helps bankers & Sets example for others to follow. Few glimpses from PSBs across India," he said while posting pictures from branches of hinterland across the country.

Public sector banks including SBI, PNB, BoB, Union Bank of India and Indian Bank were on the forefront of providing services to PMJDY women account holders and other customers for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) payments.

According to the schedule by Indian Banks' Association (IBA), women Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) account holders having account number with last digit as 0 and 1 will get the money in their account on April 3, while account ending with 2 or 3 can approach the bank on April 4.

On April 7, beneficiaries with account number ending with 4 or 5 can collect their money, while account ending with 6 or 7 may withdraw on the following day.

The last tranche would be remitted on April 9 for account number ending with 8 or 9, it said.

Meanwhile, the government has credited the first installment of Rs 500 to 4.07 crore Jan Dhan accounts of poor women on Friday as part of a relief package.

While in case of an urgency, you can withdraw the money immediately, for orderly disbursal, you may follow banks'' payment plan, the ministry requested the beneficiaries.

This is the first of the three monthly instalments under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana announced last week.

Beneficiaries are encouraged to use the neighbourhood ATMs with RuPay cards, Bank Mitras, CSPs as much as possible to avoid crowding at the branches, it said.

"Please note that there will be no charges for withdrawing money from other bank ATMs, at present, as per the government directives," it said.