With the target of opening 7.5 crore bank accounts by January 26 already met, finance minister Arun Jaitley revised the target for opening of accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) from 7.5 crore to10 crore by  January 26, 2015.

The new target would amount to opening of one account for each household in the country. While revising the target, Jaitley asked the officers that Aadhar card numbers may also be seeded with bank accounts as it would help in transferring the subsidies directly to the bank accounts of the desired sections of the society under direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme. 

The new target was fixed by the finance minister at the meeting of the mission of PMJDY held on Wednesday.

According to finance ministry, 7.64 crore bank accounts have already been opened under PMJDY till November 18, out of which public sector banks (PSBs) have opened 6.15 crore accounts, regional rural banks(RRBs) have opened 1.28 crore accounts and private sector banks have opened 0.20 crore accounts. Jaitley also called for more active participation by the private sector banks under PMJDY.

In terms of deposits, Rs 6,015 crore has been collected up to November 18. However, the growth has moderated after September 30, 2014. Out of the total accounts opened till November 18, 2014, 5.74 crore accounts opened are zero balance accounts.

Jaitley asked the bankers that efforts should be made to raise the deposit level in the zero balance accounts through financial literacy program. He further asked the mission to take-up financial literacy to promote savings and other financial services while stressing the need to ensure transactions in these zero balance accounts. He said dovetailing of central and state schemes in the PMJDY accounts would also help to increase transaction/deposits in these accounts.

Bankers were also asked to ensure availability and activation of RuPay cards issued under the scheme and were directed to setting-up of required number of bank mitras and close monitoring of their services to ensure availability of banking services to the people at large.

Possibility of integration of PMJDY with national rural livelihood mission (NRLM) through convergence with self help groups (SHGs) and integration of Mahatma Gandhi national rural employment guarantee act (MGNREGA) with DBT was also discussed.

Jaitley added that opening accounts in ‘sweep mode’ based on the results of the survey (conducted by the end of next month) be expedited so that the target is completed by January 26, 2015. He said zila parishads, district administration and DRDA authorities may also be instructed to ensure completion of the targets at their respective district level.

Finance minister stressed that the state governments can use these accounts for benefit transfers under the schemes.