On completion of 11 years of Jan Dhan Yojana, a bright picture of Uttarakhand has emerged. In the race to connect the economically backward people of the society with financial services, Uttarakhand has not only left behind all the hill states, but has also challenged many other states. Uttarakhand has emerged as a champion in providing banking services to the village Chaupal. Now the bank accounts of 39 lakh people of the state are not just documents, but are telling a new story of progress. On completion of 11 years of success of Jan Dhan Yojana, the banking sector is celebrating and Uttarakhand is also included in it. This scheme brought about big changes in the hills. Banks could reach the doorsteps of those people who had never even seen the face of a bank. A record of depositing Rs 2686 crore in bank accounts was made by connecting 39 lakh people of the state with Jan Dhan Yojana. In this too, 66 percent share is of rural account holders living in hilly areas.
Account holders in the mountains got many benefits
Jan Dhan Yojana is being used to provide benefits through DBT, provide loans, social security, increase savings and investment.
Digital transactions in the mountains were promoted by issuing free RuPay cards to 26 lakh beneficiaries out of a total of 39 lakh.
The free RuPay debit card provided an accident insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh and an overdraft facility of up to Rs 10,000, which provides security in case of emergency.
Jan Dhan accounts provided insurance facility to lakhs of workers through Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana.
Mountainous challenges still remain
People are still cut off from the scheme due to lack of bank branches and ATMs in many remote villages. -Due to network problems, one has to travel several kilometers to get the passbook updated or to withdraw money.
A large number of accounts remained inactive due to lack of financial literacy. -A large number of accounts remained inactive due to lack of banking representatives and mobile van banking in remote areas. Credit-deposit ratio regarding Jan Dhan accounts is still a big challenge.
