CHANDIGARH – As many as 10.56 lakh bank accounts have been opened in Punjab since the launch of the Jan Dhan Yojana. More than 6 lakh accounts have been opened in rural areas. While reviewing the progress of the scheme, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal asked bankers to complete the task of opening accounts by December 15, 2014.
He asked the convener of State-level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) to coordinate with the Principal Secretary, Finance, Vini Mahajan, who has been designated as mission director, to accomplish the task.
He directed Mahajan to rope in the services of the Director, Census, to provide the latest available data to the bankers to implement the scheme effectively. Badal emphasised the need to create awareness among the people on the benefits of the scheme.
He asked the Departments of Local Government, Rural Development and Panchayats and Social Security to involve the field staff of municipal corporations and councils, BDPOs, panachayat secretaries and anganwari workers to help the bankers in holding camps to implement the scheme.ensure the financial empowerment of the people especially the women living below the poverty line in the rural areas of the state by opening their accounts under the scheme.
He said directions had been issued to all Cabinet Ministers and Chief Parliamentary Secretaries to monitor the progress of the scheme. Under the Jan Dhan Yojana, each household will have at least one bank account which would be opened with zero balance. It would help provide basic banking services with an overdraft facility of Rs 5,000 after six months of opening the account.
