Telangana State has become the second state in the country next to Gujarat in implementing  Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) scheme.  

According to sources, out of 51, 68,100 households under the scheme 50,21,211 households were covered registering a 97.16 per cent of coverage. The authorities are confident that by Sankranti all the house hold will be covered. The PMJDY scheme is a big hit in villages of Telangana as people flocked to banks even before commencement of banking hours to open accounts. “We have conducted a survey which shows that a very ‘small’ portion of households still remain without bank accounts. We have asked banks to initiate to special measures to bring them under the ambit of banking,’’ J Sitapathi Sarma, General Manager, State Bank of Hyderabad and convenor of state SLBC said.

Special secretary, state financial department Ramakrishna Rao directed the district collectors to complete opening of pending accounts by January 15. “Till date 41 lakh new accounts have been opened under the scheme and we are confident that we will cover all the holders under the ambit shortly,” he said. Rao said that Nizamabad hold the distinction as the first district to have completed 100 per cent opening of accounts.

Though the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) of Telangana has asked all banks to complete the opening of basic bank accounts under the Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) scheme by December 20 it was deffered by seven days to December 27 and now the authorities are confident that by Sankranti the account opening process would be completed. However, the Aadhaar linkage and the seeding process might take more time as it stands at 76.42 per cent as on 31 December 2014.

Benefits of the scheme Under the financial inclusion scheme, banks have been directed to open zero balance bank accounts for those who do not have one so far, which means no initial deposit will be required for opening the account or a minimum balance required to maintained. An ATMRuPay card will be provided at the time of account opening that can be used for withdrawal of money at any bank ATM.  

The main advantage of the account is that after six months of satisfactory performance of the account, the bank may consider providing an overdraft facility starting from Rs 1,000. Apart from these, people who open bank accounts by 26 January, 2015, will get an additional Rs 30,000 as life insurance above the Rs 1 lakh being provided as accident insurance with the account.