Rs 33k cr in subsidies to flow into 10-crore accounts: Arun Jaitley

This will be facilitated by the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the ambitious financial inclusion plan aimed at ensuring at least one bank account for every household and thereby plug leakages in disbursal of subsidies and other doles.

The PMJDY, launched in August with a plan to open bank accounts for 7.5 crore poor people by the Republic Day on January 26, 2015, has exceeded the target by a wide margin and has seen 11.5 crore new bank accounts being opened as on January 17.

The scheme now has a coverage of 99.74% or 20.99 crore bank accounts out of 21.05 crore households in the country that previously did not have any bank accounts, the finance minister said. Only regions affected by Left-wing extremism and those that are inaccessible due to inclement weather conditions are left to be covered, he added.

The PMJDY entails use of technology for empowerment and efficient service delivery in remote areas. Eventually the funds flowing into these accounts are expected to increase manifold.

Jaitley said: “Most of India today is included in the banking system. A deposit of R9,188 crore has been mobilised so far in the accounts opened under PMJDY.” Of the accounts opened, 60% are in rural areas and 40% are in urban areas, he said, adding that share of female account holders is about 51%.

Funds worth R17,777 crore per year for 5.4 crore beneficiaries under the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme and R15,000 crore per annum for 4.3 crore beneficiaries under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) will soon flow into their respective accounts. The government, however, said there are no immediate plans to transfer food and fuel subsidies to these accounts. India now spends R2.5 lakh crore or more than 2% of its GDP on food, fertiliser and oil subsidies.