Coronavirus India: Women To Get Rs 500 Per Month Under PM Jan Dhan Yojana

The direct cash transfers aim to help the poor who have been worst hit by the nationwide lockdown that is imposed to flatten the curve of Covid-19 cases in India.

Photo: PTI

Women who have an account under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), can start withdrawing Rs 500 from Friday for the next three months as a part of the government’s measures for those worst hit by the 21-day coronavirus lockdown. The department of financial services has issued guidelines to all banks to ensure the beneficiaries do not start lining up at the bank branches as that would defeat the purpose of social distancing. So, these women will get the remittance under the scheme between April 3 and April 9. They will receive the money in their bank accounts according to the last digit of their Jan Dhan account numbers. The account numbers that end with 0 or 1 will receive money on April 3, those with 2 or 3 as last digits will get it on April 4. Then, account holders with 4 or 5 as the last digits will get the remittance on April 7. The money will be deposited in account numbers ending with 6 or 7 on April 8. Account numbers with 8 or 9 as their last digit will receive the remittance 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,” the release said. Beneficiaries can also opt for withdrawing this money from their nearest ATMs. The banks have also stated that the beneficiaries can withdraw the money any time when required and not just when it is credited. “… may also be carried out making clear that the money credited to the accounts is available for withdrawing when required and if the beneficiary needs to draw the money immediately, she may approach the bank branch or BC as per the schedule mentioned…” it said. On March 26, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the financial relief package of Rs 1,70,000 crore. On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also asked the chief ministers in a video conference to ensure the staggered release of funds to avoid crowding at banks. The direct cash transfers aim to help the poor who have been worst hit by the nationwide lockdown that is imposed to flatten the curve of Covid-19 cases in India.