About Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY):
- PMJDY is a National Mission for Financial Inclusion launched in August 2014 to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance and Pension, in an affordable manner.
- It envisages universal access to banking facilities with at least one basic banking account for every household, financial literacy, access to credit, insurance and pension.
- The plan also envisages channelling all Government benefits (from Centre / State / Local Body) to the beneficiary’s accounts and pushing the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme of the Union Government.
- Eligibility:
- The applicant should be an Indian National.
- Any individual above 10 years can open a bank account.
- If minors above ten years apply, they will require support from their legal guardians to administer their PMJDY account.
- Jan Dhan Account:
- An individual can consider opening an account under this scheme with any bank branch or Business Correspondent (Bank Mitr) outlet.
- Further, accounts opened under PMJDY can be opened with zero balance.
- However, if the account holder wishes to get a chequebook, he/she will have to fulfil the minimum balance criteria.
- The account holders under this scheme will be given a RuPay debit card which can be used across all ATMs for cash withdrawal.
- Individuals opening a Jan Dhan account are subject to be recipients of certain benefits. They are
- Accidental Insurance Cover:
- It provides accidental insurance of ₹1,00,000 to the holders of non-premium cards, while those with premium cards can avail up to ₹2,00,000.
- People holding a RuPay Debit Card under PMJDY will be eligible for this insurance.
- Life Cover Insurance:
- The holders of a RuPay Debit Card under the scheme can also receive life cover insurance up to ₹30,000.
- It will only apply to people opening bank accounts for the first time under Jan Dhan Yojana with a debit card.
- The person should also be the head of the family or a major earning member.
- This scheme will be liable to a single payment of ₹30,000 upon the death of a beneficiary.
- State or Central Government employees, public sector employees, and people with taxable income will not be eligible for life cover insurance under Jan Dhan Yojana.
- Overdraft Facility: Beneficiaries can avail of an overdraft facility for up to ₹10,000. However, this is only available against one account per household.
- This scheme also provides loans of up to ₹5,000 to beneficiaries after completing six months of account transactions.
