More than 33 crore accounts opened under Jan Dhan Yojna

New Delhi: More than 33 crore accounts were opened under the Jan Dhan Yojana scheme, with over 80 percent of the these being operational accounts, says minister of state for finance Shiv Pratap Shukla as the government continues its effort to provide better access to financial services for Indians who do not have a bank account. "As apprised by banks, as on 26.12.2018, there are 33.66 crore accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)," Shukla said in a written reply in a statement to the RBI.

"Out of these accounts, 28.16 crore PMJDY accounts are operative accounts," Shukla added that accounts could be closed by banks on request of concerned customers.

"Further, vide, Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s Master Circular on Know Your Customer (KYC) Norms, dated 1.7.2015, banks are permitted to close an account in phased manner in case of non-furnishing of required KYC information and /or non-cooperation by the customer, after issuing due notice to the customer."

"Number of PMJDY accounts closed is not centrally monitored. However, cumulative number of existing PMJDY accounts monitored by this Department shows that the number of these accounts has increased since the launch of the scheme." Under the Jan Dhan Yojana, the government will provide account holders a debit card and accident insurance cover of about 1 lakh rupees.