Rural development ministry seeks urgent disbursal of funds to mitigate problems of women account holders

Rural development ministry has written to urban development ministry to ensure immediate transfer of funds to the women account holders to tide over the economic loss to weaker sections of the society owning to the spread of COVID-19.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana package of Rs 1.7 lakh crore, government has announced one-time ex-gratia payment of Rs 500 per month for next three months to all the women Jan Dhan account holders.

There are 20.39 crore women PMJDY account holders, both rural and urban, across public sector banks, private sector banks and regional rural banks. It is expected that the first tranche of this benefit will be credited into beneficiary account in the first week of April.


Funds for the said purpose would be provided by department of rural development through central nodal bank (State Bank of India) which will further transmit funds to other participating banks according to the list provided by the finance ministry.

“The funds so transferred to the banks must be credited to the accounts of beneficiaries immediately on receipt of funds for the purpose," rural development secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to secretary, ministry of housing and urban affairs.

In his letter dated March 31, 2020, rural development secretary has urged urban local bodies to spread awareness about the scheme and also facilitate withdrawal of the transferred amount by the beneficiaries (as per the requirement) in an orderly manner adhering to the norms of social distancing.