Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is a hit in Odisha

Business Standard reported yesterday that more than 500,000 bank accounts have been opened in Odisha under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), a pet project of Prime Minister Modi. This program has been projected as the first step for a comprehensive scheme for financial inclusion. On the day of launch of the scheme, over 62,000 accounts were opened.

Jual Oram, Union minister for tribal affairs along with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who inaugurated the program said that “more than 62,720 bank accounts have been opened on the launching day and about 50 launching events are organised throughout the state,”.

The banks having operations in Odisha have overshot the target of 400,000 bank accounts allotted by the Union government to the state. More than 500,000 accounts have been opened in Odisha under the scheme, said Arun Kaul, chairman and managing director of UCO Bank. Data compiled by State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC), Odisha shows that 497,623 accounts have been opened in the state till August 27 through 3,010 camps.

UCO Bank, the SLBC convenor, has opened the most number of accounts (89,720) followed by State Bank of India (SBI) with 81,276 new accounts.

Among others, Bank of India has opened 32,179 new accounts under the scheme while Indian Overseas Bank and Andhra Bank  have opened 28,744 and 24,704 accounts respectively. In toto, PSU banks have opened 431,734 accounts while private sector banks and regional rural banks under the mission mode project, have opened 4,495 accounts and 61,394 accounts respectively.

Besides bank accounts, the other benefits under the scheme includes  RuPay debit card, Rs 1 lakh accidental insurance cover and an additional Rs 30,000 life insurance cover for those opening bank accounts before January 26, 2015.

Speaking on the occasion, Patnaik assured of all support from the state government for the gigantic task of covering unbanked households.

“I wish all success in their endeavour and assure them of all help and support from the state government in achieving the goal of universal financial inclusion in the state,” he said.

The chief minister also called upon the banks for opening of brick and mortar branches in all unbanked gram panchayats of the state within the specified time frame (March 31, 2019).

The SLBC has allotted 4,597 gram panchayats to the banks with operations in the state for opening of branches by March 31. For accommodating the branches, banks will be provided Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendras free of cost for five years.

Launching the progarmme in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that though the initial target of PMJDY was to open bank accounts for 75 million families in one year, he had exhorted that the concerned officials to complete the task before January 26, 2015.  About 15 million bank accounts was opened on the day of launch of the scheme.