Rs 3,285 crore withdrawn by Jan Dhan account holders in Saturday fortnight

Jan Dhan accounts witnessed net withdrawal of Rs 3,285 crore in the Saturday fortnight after a huge surge in deposits post demonetisation in November.

Total deposits increased to a record high of Rs 74,610 crore for the week ended December 7 and thereafter, it started gradual decline to close at Rs 71,037 crore on December 28, two days ahead of the close of demonetisation exercise, according to Finance Ministry data.

In the last fortnight, the total deposit came down by Rs 3,285 crore. This was despite the fact that the monthly upper withdrawal limit was fixed at Rs 10,000 per month from November 30 to check misuse of Jan Dhan accounts.

The upper limit for deposits in Jan Dhan account is Rs 50,000.

As of November 9, the balance in about 25.5 crore such accounts was Rs 45,636.61 crore.

Total deposits in Jan Dhan accounts surged by around Rs 28,973 crore in about a month after the announcement of ban on old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes on November 8 midnight.

Interestingly, the percentage of zero balance account still remains flat at about 24.13 per cent despite surge in deposits.

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana was launched in August 2014 to increase banking penetration and promote financial inclusion in the country.

Uttar Pradesh tops the list of states with most deposits in Jan Dhan accounts, followed by West Bengal and Rajasthan.