Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is a financial inclusion scheme launched by the Government of India in August 2014. The objective of the scheme is to provide access to financial services such as banking, insurance, and pension to the underprivileged sections of society, who do not have access to formal banking services.
The scheme has two phases. The first phase, which ran from August 2014 to August 2015, focused on providing bank accounts to all households in the country. The second phase, which started in August 2015, focused on providing additional facilities to the account holders such as overdraft facility, insurance cover, and pension benefits.
Some of the key features of the scheme are:
- Zero balance accounts: The accounts opened under the scheme do not require any minimum balance to be maintained.
- RuPay debit card: Every account holder is provided with a RuPay debit card, which can be used to withdraw money from ATMs and make purchases at Point of Sale (PoS) terminals.
- Insurance cover: Account holders are provided with a free accidental insurance cover of Rs. 2 lakhs and an additional life insurance cover of Rs. 30,000.
- Overdraft facility: Account holders are eligible for an overdraft facility of up to Rs. 10,000, which is available after 6 months of satisfactory operation of the account.
- Pension benefits: The scheme also provides for the opening of a pension account for account holders between the ages of 18 and 40 years, which will be linked to the individual’s Aadhaar number.