BackJan Dhan account deposits rise to Rs64,250 crore
The centre said no public sector bank had given any instructions to its officials to deposit Re1 or 2 to avoid zero balance in Jan Dhan accounts
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New Delhi: Total deposits in Jan Dhan accounts have increased to Rs64,252.15 crore, with Uttar Pradesh leading the chart with Rs10,670.62 crore deposits followed by West Bengal and Rajasthan, the government said on Friday.
The centre also stressed that no public sector banks had given any instructions to their officials to deposit Re1 or 2 to avoid zero balance in Jan Dhan accounts. “As on 16 November, 25.58 crore accounts with aggregate deposits of Rs64,252.15 crore have been opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) across the country," minister of state for finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
Leading the pack of states, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of account holders to the tune of 3.79 crore (37 million) and therefore highest deposits of Rs10,670.62 crore. It is followed by West Bengal with 2.44 (24 million) accounts and deposits of Rs7,826.44 crore. Rajasthan comes at the third spot with 1.89 crore (18 million) accounts and the deposit in these accounts totals to Rs5,345.57 crore, while Bihar with 2.62 crore (26 million) accounts have deposits of Rs4,912.79 crore as of 16 November. Out of 25.58 crore accounts, 5.98 crore (23.02%) are zero balance accounts, he said.
“All public sector banks have denied giving any instructions to deposit Re1 to 2 in the zero balance accounts," he said.
“Banks have been asked to ensure linkage of all PMJDY accounts with Aadhaar number in a time-bound manner. PMJDY envisages channelising all government benefits to the beneficiaries to all accounts opened under the Yojana and thus trying to bring down the zero balance in such accounts by transferring Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)," he said.
In reply to a separate question, minister of state for finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said the currency in circulation as on 11 November is Rs17.87 trillion.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) presses printed 2,119.5 crore pieces of bank notes during 2015-16 as against 2,365.2 crore pieces in the previous fiscal, Meghwal said.
During 2015-16, 429.1 crore pieces were Rs500 notes and 97.7 crore pieces of Rs1,000 were printed as compared to 501.8 crore pieces, 105.2 crore pieces, respectively in the previous fiscal.
Replying to another question, Meghwal said introduction of new series of bank notes in various denominations which are distinctly different in terms of look, design, size and colour has already been approved by the government. The new bank notes in denominations of Rs2,000 and Rs500 are already in circulation and other denomination bank notes will also be circulated in due course, he said.
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