Finance Ministry clarifies: No directive to close inactive Jan Dhan accounts

The Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, on Tuesday said it has not asked banks to close inactive PM Jan Dhan Yojana accounts. The development comes in connection with reports appearing in the media about the same.

A three-month campaign starting from July 1 has been launched by DFS all over the country to deepen the adoption of Jan Dhan Yojana accounts, Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana, and other welfare schemes. Banks will also carry out re-KYC of all due accounts during this campaign.

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The DFS constantly monitors the number of inoperative PMJDY accounts and has advised banks to contact respective account holders to make their accounts operative, a statement by the Finance Ministry said.

The total number of PMJDY accounts have seen a continuous increasing trend, and no incidents of mass closure of inactive PMJDY accounts have come to the knowledge of the department.

A three-month nationwide campaign at the Gram Panchayat level has been organised for achieving Financial Inclusion and Saturation under social security schemes beginning from July 1 to September 30.

The Ministry of Finance said the objective of this campaign is to ensure access to essential financial services such as banking, insurance, and pension up to the Gram Panchayat level and to enrol eligible citizens in the corresponding schemes.

The key components of the campaign include re-verification of existing inactive bank accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), opening new bank accounts for individuals who do not have one yet, promoting enrolment in the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY).