The Ministry of Rural Development on Friday said that it is releasing a lump sum amount of Rs. 500 per head to women account holders under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) for April and the same have been credited to the designated accounts of individual banks on April 2.
This follows the announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26 regarding ex-gratia payment of Rs. 500 for each woman PMJDY account holder for the next three months under the PM Garib Kalyan Package amid coronavirus crisis that has affected all economic activity and the incomes.
According to an official statement, in order to maintain social distancing and orderly withdrawal of money by beneficiaries, the Department of Financial Services (DFS) has directed the banks to stagger the arrival of account holders at branches, Banking Correspondents (BCs) and ATMs for withdrawal of money.
The statement announced the schedule of disbursement based on the last digit of the account number of the beneficiary.
Women PMJDY account holders having account number with the last digit as 0 or 1 can withdraw the money on April 3, account holders having account number with the last digit as 2 or 3 can withdraw the amount on April 4, account holders having account number with the last digit as 4 or 5 can withdraw on April 7, those having account number with the last digit as 6 or 7 can withdraw on April 8, and persons having account number with the last digit as 8 or 9 can withdraw the money on April 9.
After April 9 the beneficiaries may go to the branch or BC on any date as per normal banking hours. Banks may accordingly phase out the credit to beneficiary accounts. Banks have been advised to intimate the above schedule to the beneficiaries through SMS intimation.
In this context, State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) convenors have been directed to immediately contact the state governments, apprise them of the staggering plan and seek their support for suitable security arrangements at branches, BC kiosks and ATMs.
The state government may also be requested to issue suitable instruction to the district administration and police authorities to support the bank in arranging orderly disbursement of money to the beneficiaries and in carrying out local publicity.
Heads of all Public Sector and Private Sector Banks have been asked to issue suitable instructions in this regard to Branch officials and Business Correspondents.
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