Modi launches Jan Dhan Yojana

Depositors queue up in Mumbai's Kala Chowki to get enrolled in PM's Jan Dhan Yojana which rolled out on Thursday. Bankers are targeting Mumbai slums to set up camps to meet the 7 crore new depositors target set by the PM for financial inclusion.

This is the largest such exercise in the financial services sector in the country, claims Prime Minister Narendra Modi. One and a half crore bank accounts were opened via almost 80,000 camps in rural and urban areas, along with the same number of insurance policies, which Modi claimed was a national record for most number of accounts opened in a day. 

Key features of Jan Dhan Yojana

At least 7.5 crore households will get basic bank accounts by January 25, 2015, a day before Republic Day. Modi says Finance Ministry has promised this will be done.  

Queue of depositors in Mumbai's Kala Chowki.

In the first phase, each household get an RuPay debit card for PoS sales. Upon satisfactory operation of the account for six months, the account holder will get a Rs 5000 overdraft facility. Modi says having a debit card will help counter the current economic apartheid in the country, This will also strengthen the savings habit in the country, he added. 

Queue of depositors in Mumbai's Kala Chowki.

In the second phase, all households that open such bank accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana will get Rs 1 lakh accident insurance for 1.5 crore people. The poor face considerable out-of-pocket expenses in medical emergencies; in the lack of formal credit facility through banking channels, this pushes them into debt-traps. 

Queue of depositors in Mumbai's Kala Chowki.

All those who open accounts by January will get Rs 30,000 life insurance over and above the Rs 100,000 accident insurance. Again, this will ease financial pressure on lower-income sections, who are often left with no source of income when the primary earning member passes away. 

Modi launches Jan Dhan Yojana

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