All About Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana or PMJDY was launched on 28^th August 2014, by the honourable Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The scheme is a move in the direction of financial inclusiveness. It aims at providing financial services such as access to credit, savings bank account and easy transactions to lower economic groups.

This scheme is operated and monitored by the Ministry of Finance of India. The main department that controls PMJDY is the Department of Financial Resources. The scheme seeks to make available low priced financial facilities and create at least one bank account for every person in the lower strata of the society. It aims to spread banking awareness to the masses and provide them with credit, pension and insurance facilities. One of the primary goals of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is to directly transfer the benefits offered under various Government (Centre/State/Local) schemes to beneficiaries’ accounts – Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT). Also, all account holders will receive a RuPay Debit card which will come with a Rs 1 lakh personal accident insurance cover.

Features of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

1. You can go to any bank branch or contact any Bank Mitra to open an account under this scheme.
2. The minimum balance requirement of the account is zero, so you won’t be penalized even if you have zero money in your account at any given time.
3. You also stand to earn interest on your deposits in the account.
4. You also get an in-built personal accidental insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh. You can claim your personal accidental insurance only if you have performed at least one successful transaction using your RuPay card at any bank branch, Bank Mitra, ATM or POS within 90 days before the date of the accident.
5. Under the PMJDY scheme, you also get a life insurance cover of Rs 30,000.
6. One of the best features of Jan Dhan account is the fact that all government-related benefits are passed on directly into your account under the DBT scheme.
7. Depending on how you use and operate the account for 6 months, you can also be provided an overdraft facility.
8. The overdraft facility is available up to a cash limit of Rs 5,000. Further, the facility will be extended to only one account in a household, and preference will be given to a female account holder.

Table 1: Jan Dhan Account Progress Report (as on 29^th June 2016)

*All figures are in crores

*Data is reported

Source: www.pmjdy.gov.in

Table 2: Number of Jan Dhan Accounts opened in Top 10 Indian States (by GDP) as on 29^th June 2016

Source: www.pmjdy.gov.in

Documentation required for opening Jan Dhan Account

1. If you have an Aadhaar card, no other document is required. But if your current address is different from the one mentioned on the Aadhaar card, you will have to submit a self-attested certification of the new address.
2. You will have to submit one of the Officially Valid Documents such as Voter ID card, driving license, passport and PAN card, both as a proof of identity and address in the absence of Aadhar card/number.
3. In case none of these documents are available, and the bank has identified you as low risk, then you can submit any of the following documents in order to open your Jan Dhan account.
   • The applicant’s photograph with identity card issued by State/Central Government Organization, Statutory Authority or Regulatory Authorities, PSUs, Scheduled Commercial Banks and Financial Institutions of the public sector
   • Letter issued by a gazetted officer, with a duly attested photograph of the person.

Where to open Jan Dhan Account

To find out in which banks you can open a Jan Dhan Account, see the below table.

Table 3: List of Banks where you can open Jan Dhan Account