Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is about to complete one year in office, and the response to one of his flagship scheme, the Jan Dhan Yojana, which aims at encouraging families across India to have at least one bank account, has been well received. Madhya Pradesh achieved its target of 100 per cent enrollment before the deadline.
In Vidisha district, NDTV met 48-year-old Gangaram Ahirwar and his wife Shyama who were at a government run bank to collect their pin numbers for their brand new debit cards issued under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. Gangaram, who has never been to school, works as a daily wage labourer, but both he and his wife understand the benefits of enrolling under the flagship scheme.
"I have started saving money from what I earn, the insurance money will help my children in case something happens to me also I can get a loan," Gangaram told NDTV.
Vidisha was the first district of Madhya Pradesh to achieve 100 per cent enrollments under Jan Dhan Yojana - three lakh 37 thousand people are part of this scheme now. The MP government also for the first time has given farmers compensation for crop loss this year through Jan Dhan Bank accounts.
"The villagers were quite enthusiastic about opening accounts. The scheme is already benefiting the people. We have given them compensation for crop damage in their Jan Dhan Yojana bank accounts," said Vidisha Collector MB Ojha.
What seems to be working for this scheme is the high levels of awareness about it, even in remote villages. Many who already have accounts, are thinking of opening a second one under the scheme.
"Many from my village have opened bank accounts under the scheme. I did not enroll as I already had an account. But now I feel I should as there are a lot of benefits like loan insurance etc. It's a good scheme," said Ram Manohar Verma of Rangai village.
The scheme which promises a host of benefits also has a flip side. Banks officials implementing the scheme say they just don't have the man power to get all the paperwork done on time. So in many places, beneficiaries have not been issued pass books as yet and have to access their accounts through kiosk centres.
"The cash limit of a kiosk depends on us, we pay from our pockets and next day we are paid by the government. So if my capacity is of Rs one lakh, I cannot pay beyond that. There is a lot of load on server and because of this clients suffer as our work slows down. Customers cannot go to bank for transaction as they have not received pass books," said kiosk vendor Ajay Kumar Yadav.