The NDA government's flagship Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched in Uttarakhand Thursday and the first 10 bank passbooks were handed over to the new account holders.
The PMJDY is a mega financial inclusion plan under which bank accounts and debit cards with an inbuilt insurance cover of Rs.1 lakh will be provided to people with no access to formal banking facilities.
"Uttarakhand is a disaster-prone state and the insurance policy accompanying each account will be a big boon for the people," Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said after launching the scheme.
The minister handed over passbooks of newly-opened accounts to the first 10 new customers at a function.
Around 1,400 camps were organised across the state to open new bank accounts.
"We saved money in piggybanks as children and now the banks give us a sense of security with our saved money, of which we must make full use," Gandhi said.
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She also requested Chief Minister Harish Rawat to direct each legislator to bring 10,000 families within the banking net.
Meanwhile, Rawat pointed out the difficulty of providing banking facilities to the remote areas of the state, including lack of internet connectivity.