The Press Information Bureau, Guwahati conducted a webinar today on the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana under the National Mission for Financial Inclusion was launched initially for a period of 4 years on 28th August 2014. Various resource persons from the financial sector from Guwahati & Sikkim Zone participated in the webinar.

Shri Abhishek Dayal, Director, PIB, Imphal, in his opening remarks said that, “During lockdown in these pandemic times, what PMJDY is achieving is of great significance; the salient feature of this scheme is that it eliminates all middlemen & the money goes directly to the beneficiaries account. It has been emphasized by our PM that this is essential for including people who are left out into the mainstream of the financial system.”

Speaking as a resource person in the webinar, Shri Ravindra Sangvai, General Manager & Officer-in-Charge, RBI, Sikkim informed that during the lockdown period from April- June 2020 almost 12 Crores have been disbursed under Mudra Scheme in Sikkim. He also added that more than 60% of the villages and wards in Sikkim are covered under the PMJDY .The deposits in these PMJDY accounts saw a surge during lockdown, due to the central government transferring money into such accounts to help beneficiaries deal with the difficulties during the lockdown, he further added.

“In the State of Assam, the PMJDY scheme is relatively successful & the lower income strata of society have been highly benefitted from this scheme”, said Shri Sushanta Sahoo, DGM, SBI, Guwahati, in the webinar. He further said that more1CroreRuPay cards have been already issued & in Assam. He urged all the local representatives & NGOs to further disseminate & aware the common people so every person gets benefitted by PMJDY.

Shri Ravi Shankar Ravi, Editor, Dainik Purbodaya, opined that opening of bank account is not difficult for the lower strata of population in our country because of PMJDY. Under this scheme, the Government has granted access to those who have difficulties opening accounts in banks.

Shri D. V Gutte, DGM, SBI, Siliguri Module added that PMJDY has played a crucial role in covering more Indians under the financial inclusion programme. The common people should be made more aware of the features of this scheme so they can take informed decisions.

Shri Gopajit Das, Media and Communication Officer, PIB delivered the welcome address and the webinar was moderated by Smt. Sucharita Sahoo, Media and Communication Officer, PIB, Guwahati. Journalists from across Northeast region, participants from field offices of Press Information Bureau & Regional Outreach Bureau joined the webinar.

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