Govt expects 10 crore Jan Dhan bank accounts to be opened by Jan 2015, says Arun Jaitley

The government is hopeful that ten crore people will be covered under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) by January 26, 2015 as nearly eight crore people have opened bank accounts under the  financial inclusion scheme, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told Lok Sabha on Friday.

"Government's target is to cover 7.5 crore household by January 26 and that means our target is to ensure opening of account by 10 crore people. About a day or two ago, 7.98 crore people have opened their accounts and we hope that by January 26, ten crore people will be able to open the account," Jaitley said during Question Hour.

The Finance Minister said government's target was not villages only but to cover every household of every village under the PMJDY.

"Besides, we are trying to open ATMs if not a branch in every area and also want to cover every village through business correspondent. Through this way, we want to expand the banking network in the country," Jiatley said.

The Finance Minister said the government will ensure that no one takes wrong advantage of the scheme which is targeted at the weaker sections of the society.

The Jan-Dhan Yojana envisages universal access to banking facilities with at least one basic banking account for every household, financial literacy, access to credit, insurance and pension.

Jaitley said the beneficiaries would get a RuPay Debit card having inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs one lakh. In addition, there is life insurance cover of Rs 30,000 to those people who open their accounts for the first time and meet other eligibility conditions of the scheme.

"The card holder would also get overdraft facility of Rs 5,000 depending on the repaying capacity of the customer.

These are incentives and we have reached the target due to the incentives," the Finance Minister said.

Jiatley said life and accident cover was applicable for everyone and that was the right of the customer. In case of other benefits, like loan, banks have been asked to take a liberal approach.

In case of migrant labourers and others, the simplified KYC norms of the Reserve Bnak of India (RBI) require only one proof of address (either current or permanent) while opening a bank account or while undergoing periodic updation.

"Banks have been directed to preferably use Aadhar enabled e-KYC facility in order to open the accounts of all beneficiaries including migrant workers and illiterate persons who have Aadhar numbers," the Finance Minister said.