Question : PMJDY

(a) the number of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) bank accounts opened along with total deposit in these accounts, bank, State/UT-wise including Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh;
(b) whether any target has been fixed for opening bank accounts under the scheme, if so, the details thereof;
(c) the number of PMJDY account wherein financial benefits of Government schemes is being provided;
(d) whether such accounts are exerting pressure on rural banks, if so, the reaction of the Government thereto;
(e) whether the Government has increased the rural bank branches to reduce the said pressure, if so, the details thereof; and
(f) the steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

The Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance


(a) The number of bank accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) along with total deposit in these accounts, State/UT-wise including Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh and bank-wise is at Annex-I and II respectively.

(b) PMJDY is an ongoing scheme of the government targeted inter alia to provide universal access to basic banking facilities and financial services. Banks have informed that under PMJDY, a total of 31.01 crore accounts have been opened as on 24.1.2018 and 23.40 crore RuPay debit cards have been issued to PMJDY account-holders.

(c) The information in this regard is not centrally maintained.

(d) to (f) The number of functioning branches of public sector banks in rural areas (less than 10,000 population) as reported by Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has increased to 29,146 on 30.9.2017 from 29,029 as on 31.3.2017. In addition to bank branches, banking services are also provided through Business Correspondents in rural areas to share the workload.

RBI has rationalized its Branch Authorisation Policy and granted general permission to domestic Scheduled Commercial Banks (excluding Regional Rural Banks), including Public Sector Banks, to open banking outlets at any place in the country, without seeking prior approval of RBI in each case, subject to at least 25 percent of the total number of banking outlets opened during a financial year being in unbanked rural centres (Tier 5 and Tier 6 centres).
RBI has also aligned the roadmap for unbanked villages having population more than 5,000 with the revised guidelines on Branch Authorisation Policy vide circular dated June 8, 2017, wherein State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) Convenor banks have been advised to review and identify the unbanked rural centres (URCs) in villages with population above 5,000, and ensure that such URCs are banked forthwith by opening of CBS enabled banking outlets.

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