Government sets up mission to oversee implementation of Jan Dhan

NEW DELHI: The government has set up a mission under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to oversee the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY).

The eight-member mission includes Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh and Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan, sources said.

Other top officials in the mission include Financial Services Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg, Rural Development Secretary L C Goyal and Indian Banks Association Chairman T M Bhasin, they added.

"The mission has been set up to give direction and guidance to the PMJDY and oversee its implementation. The Cabinet has also been apprised of this," they said.

According to the data provided by Department of Financial Services, as on November 7, 2014 a total of 7.1 crore bank accounts have been opened under PMJDY.

Launched on August 28 this year, Jan Dhan Yojna is a national mission for financial inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, banking and savings and deposit accounts, remittance, credit, insurance, pension in an affordable manner.