Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), also called Prime Minister's People Money Scheme is a scheme for comprehensive financial inclusion launched by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on 28 August 2014. He had announced this scheme on his first Independence Day speech on 15 August 2014.
It is a National Mission to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner.
Run by Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, on the inauguration day, 1.5 Crore (15 million) bank accounts were opened under this scheme.
Under the Jan Dhan Yojna anyone who is India citizen above age of 10 years and does not have a bank account, can open the account with zero balance. Account can be opened in any bank branch or Business Correspondent (Bank Mitr) outlet, specially designed for the purpose of opening the accounts under this scheme. PMJDY accounts are being opened with Zero balance. However, if the account-holder wishes to get cheque book, he/she will have to fulfill minimum balance criteria.
"Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has also entered the Guinness Book of World Records for opening the highest number of accounts in the shortest period of time. As many as 11.50 crore bank accounts were till January 17 this year, surpassing the target of opening 7.5 crore bank accounts by January 26. A total amount of Rs 9,188 crore has been accumulated in the accounts opened under PMJDY."
Purpose of PMJDY?
The scheme has been started with a target to provide 'universal access to banking facilities' starting with "Basic Banking Accounts" with overdraft facility of Rs.5000 after six months and RuPay Debit card with inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs. 1 lakh and RuPay Kisan Card. In next phase, micro insurance & pension etc. will also be added.
(Rupay Debit Card is an indigenous domestic debit card introduced by National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI). This card is accepted at all ATMs (for cash withdrawal) and at most of the PoS machines (for making cashless payment for purchases) in the country)
Under the scheme:
- Account holders will be provided zero-balance bank account with RuPay debit card, in addition to accidental insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh (to be given by 'HDFC Ergo').
- Those who open accounts by January 26, 2015 over and above the 1 lakh ₹ accident, they will be given life insurance cover of ₹ 30,000 (to be given by LIC).
- After Six months of opening of the bank account, holders can avail 5,000 ₹ overdraft from the bank.
- With the introduction of new technology introduced by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a person can transfer funds, check balance through a normal phone which was earlier limited only to smart phones so far.
- Mobile banking for the poor would be available through National Unified USSD Platform (NUUP) for which all banks and mobile companies have come together.
2. If Aadhaar Card is not available, then any one of the following Officially Valid Documents (OVD) is required: Voter ID Card, Driving License, PAN Card, Passport & NREGA Card. If these documents also contain your address, it can serve both as “Proof of Identity and Address”.
3. If a person does not have any of the “officially valid documents” mentioned above, but it is categorized as ‘low risk' by the banks, then he/she can open a bank account by submitting any one of the following documents:
- Identity Card with applicant's photograph issued by Central/State Government Departments, Statutory/Regulatory Authorities, Public Sector Undertakings, Scheduled Commercial Banks and Public Financial Institutions.
- Letter issued by a gazette officer, with a duly attested photograph of the person.
PMJDY focuses on coverage of households as against the earlier plan which focused on coverage of villages. It focuses on coverage of rural as well as urban areas. Earlier plan targeted only villages above 2000 population while under PMJDY whole country is to be covered by extending banking facilities in each Sub-Service area consisting of 1000 – 1500 households such that facility is available to all within a reasonable distance, say about 5 Km.
Whether Joint account can be opened in Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana?
Yes, joint account can be opened.
List of Banks authorized to open accounts in Jan Dhan Yojana Scheme
Jan Dhan account can be opened at all the public sector banks and majority of private sector banks.
Public Sector Banks:
- Allahabad Bank
- Andhra Bank
- Bank Of Baroda (BoB)
- Bank Of India (BOI)
- Bank Of Maharashtra
- Bhartiya Mahila Bank
- Canara Bank
- Central Bank Of India
- Corporation Bank
- Dena Bank
- IDBI Bank
- Indian Bank
- Oriental Bank of Commerce
- Punjab National Bank (PNB)
- Punjab & Sind Bank
- State Bank of India (SBI) and all it’s 5 affiliated banks – State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Travancore
- Syndicate Bank
- Union Bank of India
- Vijaya Bank
Private Sector Banks:
- Axis Bank Ltd.
- Dhanalaxmi Bank Ltd.
- Federal Bank Ltd.
- HDFC Bank Ltd.
- ICICI Bank Ltd.
- IndusInd Bank Ltd.
- ING Vysya Bank Ltd.
- Karnataka Bank Ltd.
- Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.
- YES Bank Ltd.
Below given are the links to download the forms for Jan Dhan Account.