Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Aug 28: Union Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office and MoS (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology , Dr Jitendra Singh today said, time has come for Jammu and Kashmir to move forward from the turmoil of last 25 years towards an era of economic prosperity.
Dr Jitendra Singh asked,where is the time to dwell in past and said, ” Jammu and Kashmir has seen enough misery in last two decades. We don’t wish to engage in blame-game or discuss why certain things happened which should not have happened. It is time for Jammu & Kashmir to become a part of India’s onward march led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and bring the fruits of progress and prosperity to the State,” said Dr Jitendra while launching ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)’ at SKICC here this afternoon.
He said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attaches high priority to Jammu & Kashmir and has a great vision for the State and added, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is one of the first in many schemes that Centre has initiated in the valley.
Describing the launching of PMJDY in Srinagar as a historic event ,Dr Jitendra Singh said, the scheme will not only ensure a bank account with insurance cover for every household but will also give the people of Kashmir a sense of belonging and a sense of identity. Under the scheme, the new account holders would be provided RuPay debit cards with an inbuilt insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh,he added.
He informed that as many as 789 villages of J&K have already been brought under banking network and added, the new scheme of PMJDY will further carry forward the process of economic empowerment of the people of the State especially those living in peripheral areas.
“The new initiative through PMJDY will also serve the purpose of ensuring social equitability in its true sense,said Dr Jitendra Singh and appealed “let us not miss such opportunities for any frivolous reasons”.
On the occasion, Finance Minister, Abdul Rahim Rather, said the nationwide launch of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY’) is an ambitious plan for financial inclusion and financial literacy.
“The scheme is going to be an important milestone for the financial inclusion, financial literacy and ongoing Swabhiman campaigns in the State,” he said, adding “It is a timely step in the right direction for overall economic upliftment of the entire nation in which all its people will be joining in the efforts of nation building and in turn, in reaping the consequential benefits.”
Rather said, that all the commercial banks, led by our own J&K Bank have completed 100 per cent coverage of the targeted unbanked villages with a population of 2000 and above well within the prescribed time limits.
“So far 4.28 lakh new accounts have been opened in these 795 villages under the first phase of the Swabhiman campaign,” he said.
Under the second phase of the campaign, most of the banks have so far covered around or over 80 per cent of their assigned targets of 5582 unbanked villages with population below 2000 persons.
“As an immediate advantage to the account holders, the scheme has been imaginatively linked to a personal accident cover of Rs 1 lakh and in case of satisfactory running of the account to a further benefit of a suitable overdraft facility”, he said, adding that on opening of a basic banking account, a RuPaydebit card with an inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh is proposed to be provided to the account holders.
Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Mushtaq Ahmad, said PMJDY will go a long way in ensuring financial inclusions, which was imperative for inclusive growth and economic prosperity.
On this occasion as many as 30 new bank accounts were opened in favour of the people living in remote and backward areas.
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