The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written an email to all bank officers, referring to his Independence Day announcement of the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana – the National Mission on Financial Inclusion with the objective of covering all households in the country with banking facilities, and having a bank account for each household.
Describing the task as “gigantic,” the Prime Minister said to enroll over 7 crore households and open their accounts.
The Prime Minister has urged bank officers to ensure include everyone with a bank account. He will also recognize the achievements of the best performing branches.
The Prime Minister said that the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana lies at the core of country’s development philosophy of Sab Ka Sath Sab Ka Vikas. He said
“As we move rapidly forward in this knowledge era with modern banking and financial systems, it is untenable that a large majority of our population is deprived of basic banking facilities. I sometimes wonder whether we have made matters so complicated that the poor and the marginalized are those who are trapped in a perpetual cycle of exclusion and deprivation. We need to break that cycle and the Jan Dhan Yojana is the first step in that direction. With a bank account, every household gains access to banking and credit facilities. This will enable them to come out of the grip of moneylenders, manage to keep away from financial crises caused by emergent needs, and most importantly, benefit from a range of financial products.”
As a first step, under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, every account holder gets a RuPay debit card with a Rs 1,00,000/- accident cover.
The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana will be launched on 28 August, 2014 across the nation simultaneously. The Prime Minister will launch it formally in Delhi, with parallel functions at the state level which will be attended by Union Ministers, and also at district and sub-district levels. Camps are also to be organized at the branch level.
