Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

On 15^th August 2014, the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, announced Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, in his first Independence Day speech. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana was, later on, launched on 28^th August 2014.

The Yojana is a national mission launched with an aim to widely provide easy access to various financial services which also includes insurance; credit; pension; remittance; savings & deposit account.

The present article briefs about eligibility to avail benefit under the Scheme; documents to be provided under the Scheme; benefits available under the Scheme and a list of public and private sector banks offering accounts under the Scheme.

Eligibility to avail benefit under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana-

Following are the simple eligibility criteria, on satisfying the same, the person can easily open an account under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana-

1. The person should be a citizen of India;

2. The person should be of age 10 years or above; and

3. The person should not have any other bank account.

Documents to be provided under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana-

Following is the list of documents needed for applying under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana-

• Availability of Aadhaar Card of the applicant-
  • The applicant is required to submit only Aadhaar Card. Other than Aadhaar Card, no other documents are to be submitted.
• Non-availability of the Aadhaar Card of the applicant-
  • In case the Aadhaar Card of the applicant is not available. Then, any one of the following ‘Officially Valid Document’ is to be submitted-
    • Permanent Account Number (PAN) card; or
    • Driving Licence; or
    • Passport; or
    • Voter ID card; or
    • Job card issued by NREGA – The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

• • In case the applicant doesn’t have any of the above ‘Officially Valid Document’ and the bank categorizes it as low risk. Then, the applicant can open the account by submitting any one of the following documents-
    • Identity Card with the photo of the applicant. Such card should have been issued by Central Government or State Government or Statutory authority or Public Sector Undertaking or Schedule Commercial Banks or Public Financial Institutions; or
    • Letter issued by the Gazette Officer (along with a duly attested photo of the person).

Benefits available under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana-

Following are the highlighted benefits available under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana-

1. The Scheme covers both the areas i.e., Urban areas as well as Rural areas.

2. It provides an indigenous Debit Card (i.e., RuPay card) to all the account holders.

3. There is no need to maintain any minimum balance under the Scheme. However, the minimum balance is to be maintained only if one wishes to avail benefit of the cheque facility.

4. An overdraft facility up to INR 5,000 (later on enhanced to INR 10,000) is also made available to the eligible account holder;

5. An accident insurance cover of INR 1 Lakhs (later on enhanced to INR 2 Lakhs) is available with a RuPay card issued under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana;

6. Interest is also paid to the account holder on the deposits made under the savings bank account;

7. Accounts under the scheme are also eligible for-

a. Direct Benefit Transfer;

b. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana;

c. Atal Pension Yojana;

d. Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana;

e. Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency Bank Scheme.

List of banks offering accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana-

Following is the list of public sector banks and private sector banks which offers accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana-