New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to announce benefits for about 32 crore Jan Dhan account holders in his Independence Day address this week to provide a boost to the government's financial inclusion drive, official sources said.
There could be a doubling of overdraft facility to Rs 10,000 under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) account holders as part of the government's effort to fund the unfunded, they said.
Besides, the government may announce attractive micro insurance scheme on the occasion, the sources said. The free accident cover under the RuPay Card holders could be increased from Rs 1 lakh.
The Phase II of PMJDY will come to an end on August 15 and the scheme would be due for a revamp with further goals, the sources said, adding that the Prime Minister's Independence Day speech would be the best platform to make announcement.
PMJDY, the flagship financial inclusion drive, was launched in August 2014. The first phase ended on August 14, 2015 was focussed on opening basic bank accounts and RuPay debit card.
In the last four years, 32.25 crore PMJDY accounts have been opened with Rs 80,674.82 crore outstanding balance.
In addition, the government may raise the pension limit under Atal Pension Yojana (APY), announced in 2015-16, to up to Rs 10,000 per month from the existing slab of up to Rs 5,000.
In order to address the longevity risks among the workers in the unorganised sector and encourage them to voluntarily save for retirement, the government had started the Swavalamban Scheme in 2010-11. However, coverage under Swavalamban Scheme is inadequate mainly due to lack of clarity of pension benefits.
The APY was focussed on all citizens in the unorganised sector, who would join the National Pension System (NPS) administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and who are not members of any statutory social security scheme.
Under the APY, the subscribers would receive the pension of Rs 1,000-5,000 per month at the age of 60 years, depending on their contributions.
Jobs
Meanwhile, Modi said that over 70 lakh jobs were created in the formal sector alone in the last one year.
Based on Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) data, more than 45 lakh formal jobs were created between September 2017 to April 2018, Modi said in a media interview.
"According to our study based on the EPFO data, more than 70 lakh jobs were created in the formal sector alone last year."
"If you look at claims made by the state governments — Bengal says it created 68 lakh jobs and the previous Karnataka government claimed it created 53 lakh jobs — are we saying that all the country's jobs are being created in some states and that other states and the country as a whole are not creating jobs? This propaganda on jobs by the opposition is nothing but a political gimmick," he said.
Modi said that informal sector accounts for around 80 per cent of all jobs and creation of jobs in the formal sector has a spin-off effect on job creation in the informal sector.
"There are close to three lakh village-level entrepreneurs who run common service centres across the country and create employment. More than 12 crore loans have been given under MUDRA Scheme," he said.
Modi said that in the last four years there has been massive construction activities like roads, railways or housing — all these generate jobs.
"All reports, whether national or international, show that poverty in India is on the decline. Can we think of such a possibility without people having jobs?" he asked.
"All reports, whether national or international, show that poverty in India is on the decline. Can we think of such a possibility without people having jobs?" he asked.
Asserting that tourism provides maximum employment, Modi said that the country's tourism sector has been growing rapidly with foreign tourist arrivals in India in 2017 registering a growth of 14 per cent over 2016.