Jan Dhan Accounts have seen a huge surge in deposits, with Rs 21,000 crore being parked in such accounts following demonetisation announced earlier this month.

Post demonetisation, the total balance on Jan Dhan accounts stood at Rs 66,636 crore. As of November 9 — the day from which higher denomination currency ceased to be legal tender — the balance in about 25.5 crore such accounts was Rs 45,636.61 crore.

On November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes and since then, long queues before banks and post offices are seen to deposit or exchange these currencies.

Mamata Banerjee-ruled West Bengal leads the pack of States, which has seen the highest deposits so far followed by Karnataka.

With a view to increasing banking penetration and promoting financial inclusion and with the main objective of covering all households with at least one bank account per household across the country, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) was launched on August 28, 2014.

Such accounts have a deposit limit of Rs 50,000.

Earlier, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said the government is looking into sudden ‘popping up’ of money into zero-balance Jan Dhan accounts. #casansaar (PTI - The Hindu)