Deposits in Jan Dhan accounts have touched a new high of Rs 64,564 crore, of which over Rs 300 crore came in the first seven months of demonetisation, according to government data.

The Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet scheme, aims at bringing hitherto unbanked areas and people under a formal banking system. Bank accounts can be opened with a zero balance under the PMJDY.

Finance ministry data, accessed through a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by a PTI correspondent, show that there were about 28.9 crore PMJDY accounts on June 14 this year.

Of these, 23.27 crore accounts were with public sector banks, 4.7 crore with regional rural banks and 92.7 lakh with private ones.

These accounts together have deposits of Rs 64,564 crore, the Finance Ministry data show. Public sector banks account for Rs 50,800 crore, regional rural banks for Rs 11,683.42 crore and private banks, Rs 2,080.62 crore.

b’Finance ministry data show that there were about 28.9 crore PMJDY accounts on June 14 this year | Source: PTI’

On November 16, 2016, there were 25.58 crore PMJDY accounts with an aggregate deposit of Rs 64,252.15 crore, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar had told the Lok Sabha.

Thus, between November 16 last year and June 14 this year, Rs 311.93 crore had been added to Jan Dhan accounts.

The PM had on November 8 last year announced the demonetisation of 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee notes.

(Feature image source: PTI)