Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

About Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

 

• PMJDY is a National Mission for Financial Inclusion launched in August 2014 to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance and Pension, in an affordable manner.
• It envisages universal access to banking facilities with at least one basic banking account for every household, financial literacy, access to credit, insurance and pension.
• The plan also envisages channeling all Government benefits (from Centre / State / Local Body) to the beneficiary’s accounts and pushing the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme of the Union Government.
• Eligibility:
  • The applicant should be an Indian National.
  • The applicant should be aged between 18 and 59 years.
  • If minors above ten years apply, they will require support from their legal guardians to administer their PMJDY account.
• Jan Dhan Account:
  • An individual can consider opening an account under this scheme with any bank branch or Business Correspondent (Bank Mitr) outlet. 
  • Further, accounts opened under PMJDY can be opened with zero balance.
  • However, if the account holder wishes to get a chequebook, he/she will have to fulfill the minimum balance criteria. 
  • The account holders under this scheme will be given a RuPay debit card which can be used across all ATMs for cash withdrawal.
• Individuals opening a Jan Dhan account are subject to be recipients of certain benefits. They are
  • Accidental Insurance Cover:
    • It provides accidental insurance of ₹1,00,000 to the holders of non-premium cards, while those with premium cards can avail up to ₹2,00,000.
    • People holding a RuPay Debit Card under PMJDY will be eligible for this insurance.
  • Life Cover Insurance:
    • The holders of a RuPay Debit Card under the scheme can also receive life cover insurance up to ₹30,000.
    • It will only apply to people opening bank accounts for the first time under Jan Dhan Yojana with a debit card.
    • The person should also be the head of the family or a major earning member.
    • This scheme will be liable to a single payment of ₹30,000 upon the death of a beneficiary.
    • State or Central Government employees, public sector employees, and people with taxable income will not be eligible for life cover insurance under Jan Dhan Yojana.
  • Overdraft Facility: Beneficiaries can avail of an overdraft facility for up to ₹10,000. However, this is only available against one account per household.
  • This scheme also provides loans of up to ₹5,000 to beneficiaries after completing six months of account transactions.

 

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Q1) What are Business Correspondents?

Business correspondents are bank representatives. They help villagers to open bank accounts. Business Correspondents get commission from the bank for every new account opening, every transaction made via them, every loan-application processed etc.

Source: Jan Dhan accounts cross 50 crore-mark in less than 9 years: Govt