20% Jan Dhan accounts lying dormant: Minister

New Delhi March 22 (IANS) Almost 20 per cent of the total 31 crore Jan Dhan accounts are lying dormant the government said on Thursday.

An estimated 31.20 crore Jan Dhan accounts with an aggregate deposit balance of over Rs 75 000 crore were opened till February out of which 25.18 crore (or 81 per cent) were operative Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply to a question.

This means that over 6 crore accounts -- or 19.29 per cent -- opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) are lying dormant.

The Minister added that till February about 59 lakh (1.9 per cent) Jan Dhan accounts had been closed since the launch of the scheme.

"Jan Dhan accounts are closed as per the request of account holder. Some of the Jan Dhan accounts are closed due to conversion into normal savings account as per request of the account holder.

"In some cases accounts are closed due to account holders having multiple accounts in their name in the same bank " he added.

--IANS
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