About one-fifth of all accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana remain inoperative and more than half had a balance of less than Rs 1,000.

Out of a total of 541.3 million accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), 113.7 million are non-operating accounts, as on December 4, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed the Rajya Sabha. There are 336.8 million PMJDY accounts having a balance of less than Rs 1,000 as on October 30, he further said.

The minister was replying to a question on non-operating accounts under the PMJDY.

Launched in August 2014, the scheme is a flagship initiative of the government that aims to provide universal banking services to all unbanked households. “PMJDY account is a basic type of savings bank deposit account,” Chaudhary said.

Meanwhile, replying to another question, the MoS informed the Rajya Sabha that Rs 85,718.14 crore has been approved and Rs 60,120.76 crore has been released to states under the Special Assistance Scheme to States for capital investment 2024-25. Under the scheme, the central government provided 50-year interest-free loans to the states.

States received Rs 1.10 crore in FY24 under the scheme and Rs 81,195.35 crore in FY23. Meanwhile, Rs 14,185.78 crore was released to states in FY22 and Rs 11,830.29 crore in FY21.

“In October 2020, the Union Government introduced a ‘Scheme of Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure’ keeping in view the tough fiscal environment faced by the State Governments due to the pandemic of COVID-19. Special assistance (loan) was provided to help states increase capital spending and improve the productive capacity of the economy in times of risk aversion,” he said.