113.7 mn of 541.3 mn PM Jan Dhan Yojana accounts are inoperative: MoS Finance

About a fifth of all accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana remain inoperative and more than half had a balance of less than Rs 1,000.

Out of a total of 541.3 million accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), 113.7 million accounts are inoperative accounts, as on December 4, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. There are 336.8 million PMJDY accounts that have a balance of less than Rs 1,000, as on October 30, he further said.

The minister was replying to a question on inoperative accounts under the PMJDY.

Launched in August 2014, the scheme is a flagship initiative of the government which aims to provide universal banking services for every unbanked household. “PMJDY account is a type of Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account, Chaudhary said.

Meanwhile, responding to another question, the MoS informed the Rajya Sabha that Rs 85,718.14 crore has been approved and Rs 60,120.76 crore has been released to states under the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2024-25. Under the scheme, the central government provided 50-year interest free loan to states.

States received Rs 1.10 lakh crore in FY24 under the scheme and Rs 81,195.35 crore in FY23. Meanwhile, Rs 14,185.78 crore was released to states in FY22 and Rs 11,830.29 crore in FY21.

“In October 2020, the Union Government came out with a ‘Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure’ considering the tough fiscal environment faced by the state governments due to COVID-19 pandemic. Special assistance (loan) was provided to assist the states in boosting capital expenditure and enhance the productive capacity of the economy in the time of risk aversion,” he further said.