38 crore bank accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana: MoS Anurag Thakur

New Delhi: Around 38 crore bank accounts have been opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana till last month. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, Minister of State for Finance, Anurag Thakur said, out of 38 crore accounts, around 31 crore accounts are operative and the number of these accounts has increased every year since the launch of the scheme.

Mr. Thakur said, no penalty was imposed on Jan Dhan accounts for non-maintenance of minimum balance. He added that as per the guidelines of the RBI, there is no requirement for maintaining minimum balance in such accounts.

He said that inflation has declined continuously in comparison to the level existed in the



year 2014-15. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today, he said, average consumer price index-combined inflation was recorded at 5.9 per cent in the year 2014-15 whereas it was around 3.4 per cent in 2018-19. He said, inflation rate during the period of April to December 2020 was recorded at 4.1 per cent. He added that hike observed in the current fiscal is due to the surge in onion prices.

Mr. Thakur said, the government has taken several measures from time to time to stabilize prices of the essential items including export restrictions, impositions of stock limits and advising states for taking action against hoarders and black marketers.