Anand Parbat resident Sunita is 40 years old and has never opened a bank account. Her children who listened to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on Independence Day insisted she open one under the newly launched ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana’ which provides a zero-balance bank account with RuPay debit card, life insurance cover of Rs 30,000 in addition to accidental insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh. In Delhi, the scheme will target 17.8 million people through a network of 33 operating banks and 3,282 branches with more branches to be opened up for this purpose, said Delhi Government officials.
Sunita, her neighbours Mahender Singh and Kamal, were among the several residents of Delhi who gathered at the Delhi Secretariat on Thursday for the official launch of the scheme in the Capital.
She received a pass book and debit card from Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan who said the scheme will prove helpful for poor people who fear entering banks.
“People are excited about this scheme which will benefit crores of people across the country. This excitement can be compared to when Mr. Modi became Prime Minister. I urge people, who have bank accounts, to encourage those who don’t have one, to open their accounts under Jan Dhan Yojana," said Dr. Vardhan.
Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung presided over the function and said it was a revolutionary step by the government.
“This will usher in a big revolution to a poor person’s life and it will serve as a confidence building mechanism knowing that he has a debit card in this pocket,” he said, adding that “the responsibility of making the scheme successful rests on banks and I hope this revolutionary step will really benefit the poor”.
Chief Secretary D.M. Spolia, who took over on Thursday, termed the scheme “a new and innovative financial scheme” which will provide social security to the poor. “The response in Delhi is overwhelming and within a few days as much as 3.5 lakh bank accounts have been opened,” he said, adding this process will be accelerated.
