Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

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About Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY):

Launch date: August 28, 2014
Objective: To promote financial inclusion by providing access to financial services, including banking/savings accounts, remittance, credit, insurance, and pensions, affordably.
Significance: Forms the backbone for several government economic initiatives and facilitates Direct Benefit Transfers (DBTs).
Eligibility:
- The applicant should be an Indian National.
- The applicant should be aged between 18 and 59 years.
- 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 open an account under this scheme with any bank branch or Business Correspondent (Bank Mitr) outlet.
- 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 fulfill 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.

Scheme highlights:

Zero-balance accounts: Accounts can be opened with no minimum balance requirement.
RuPay debit card: Provides a free RuPay debit card with in-built accident insurance coverage.
- Accident insurance: Up to ₹2 lakh.
- Life insurance: Up to ₹30,000 for eligible first-time account holders.
Overdraft facility:
- Up to ₹10,000 is available to one account per household, with an additional ₹5,000 loan after six months of satisfactory account activity.
Coverage focus: 66.6% of accounts are in rural and semi-urban areas, with 55.6% of account holders being women.
Banking access: 99.95% of inhabited villages have banking facilities within a 5 km radius.

Recent developments:

Account growth:
- Accounts increased from 14.72 crore in March 2015 to 53.13 crore by August 2024.
- Deposits in PMJDY accounts surged from ₹15,670 crore (March 2015) to over ₹2.31 lakh crore (August 2024).
Financial Year 2024-25 target: The government aims to open an additional 3 crore PMJDY accounts.

Operative accounts: Out of 173 crores CASA accounts in the country, over 53 crores are PMJDY accounts, with an 80% operation rate.

Q1. What is a “Farmer’s Producer Organisation” (FPO)?

It is one type of PO where the members are farmers. Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) is providing support for the promotion of FPOs. PO is a generic name for an organization of producers of any produce, e.g., agricultural, non-farm products, artisan products, etc.