1.5 cr households given bank accounts on day 1

New Delhi, 29 Aug 2014 (DHNS): A woman displays pass book and Rupay card of her bank account opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana in Mumbai on Thursday.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday kicked off his government’s ambitious financial inclusion plan here, which on the first day itself handed out a bank account each to 1.5 crore poor households across the country along with an accident insurance of Rs 1,00,000 and a life cover of Rs 1,30,000.

 

Launching what is billed as the largest ever banking programme so far, named “Jan Dhan Yojana”, the prime minister vowed to free the country of “financial untouchability” by bringing 7.5 crore households under banking system by January 26.

 

Earlier, the government had set August 15, 2015, as the deadline to fulfill the mission.Over 40 per cent of country’s population still does not have access to banking.

 

“Providing a bank account is the first step towards connecting a person to the economic mainstream. For the poor, it is a form of security. I can see the festive mood among those who have got the bank accounts here today,” Modi said as he gave away a RuPay debit card along with zero-balance bank accounts to five households at the launch ceremony.

 

The RuPay debit card has an inbuilt accident cover for the account holders. The programme was simultaneously launched at 80,000 places across the country by 20 chief ministers and several Union ministers.

 

The government will make special provision in the Budget for accident and life cover of Rs 1,30,000 to each account holder. The life insurance will be provided by public sector insurer Life Insurance Corporation.