Post News Network
Cuttack, Dec 6: The efficacy of the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana in Orissa is under the scanner.
According to sources, only 77 per cent of the households in the state have been covered under the financial inclusion scheme, which focuses on those who do not have bank accounts.
In contrast, in Madhya Pradesh, 100 per cent of the households have been covered under the scheme, sources said.
Banabihari Behera, a construction labourer, said he is not even aware of the ambitious scheme of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. “I am not aware of such a scheme and still send whatever I earn through money order to my family in Kandhamal,” he said.
Biren Chakradhar, another construction labourer, had a different tale to tell. Chakradhar said he is aware of the scheme and had approached a leading nationalised bank to open a bank account. “The bank officials said they have run out of forms and I should come after a week,” he said.
Chakradhar said that for daily wage labourers like him PMJDY is still a distant dream. “I am not sure whether a bank account will help me,” he said.
The scheme has been hit by lack of initiative by banks and lack of dissemination of information among people for whom the scheme is intended.
“The banks should do more to spread awareness among the masses about the utility of the scheme,” said a bank official. Some banks have indeed run out of forms meant for opening savings accounts while others simply do not want to get overburdened, he said.
“It is simple. More accounts mean more work and some officials do not want that. It is easy for an official to say that the branch has run out of account opening forms,” he said.