Number of Jan Dhan a/cs rose by 2.26 crore after note ban

The demonetisation of ₹500 and ₹1,000 bank notes on November 8 last year seems to have given a thrust to new account opening under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).

A hundred days after demonetisation, the number of accounts under the PMJDY has increased by 2.26 crore and deposits by ₹19,084 crore.

The scheme had witnessed a growth of around 1.87 crore in the number of accounts and ₹6,720 crore in deposits during the November-February period of 2015-16.

The number of PMJDY accounts increased to 27.77 crore (February 22) from 25.51 crore (November 9), during the 100-odd days post-demonetisation.

A major share of new PMJDY accounts came from Uttar Pradesh (57.11 lakh), followed by Maharashtra (25.05 lakh), and Madhya Pradesh (24.11 lakh).

The total number of PMJDY accounts crossed the one-crore mark in Assam, Gujarat and Karnataka during the 100 days post-demonetisation. The total number of accounts fell below the November 9 level in Andaman, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Tripura.

During the period, the amount in PMJDY accounts increased to ₹64,721 crore (February 22) from ₹45,637 crore (November 9).

Deposits had reached a peak of ₹74,609 crore on December 7. Uttar Pradesh led the race in the mobilisation of deposits, going up to ₹10,488 crore (February 22) from ₹7,493 crore (November 9). Interestingly, the deposits in Jan-Dhan accounts fell below the November 9 level in Chhattisgarh.

The deposits stood at ₹1,238 crore as on February 22 as against ₹1,419 crore on November 9.

Though nearly one-fourth of the total PMJDY accounts still remain zero-balance, the situation has improved significantly over the November-February period of 2015-16.

At the beginning of the demonetisation process, the zero-balance accounts stood at 23.27 per cent of the total deposits. It came down to 22.84 per cent by November 30.

After 100 days of demonetisation, the zero-balance accounts stood at 24.86 per cent.

The share of such accounts was 37.16 per cent of the total as of November 4, 2015. However, it fell to 28.87 per cent by February 24, 2016.