1. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna District North 24 Parganas West Bengal

2. Largest district in the country interms of population and Parliamentary constituencies Varied geographical characters ranging from Bidhannagar to Sundarbans Long International Border District Profile Total Area4094 sq.km. Total Population (as per Census 2011) 1,00,82,852 Rural Population 43,50,690 Urban Population 57,32,162 Total No. of Households 23,48,683 Total No of Bank Branches 813

3. PMJDY in North 24 Parganas  District PMJDY Implementation committee under the chairmanship of District Magistrate was formed on 21/8/2014.  Special DCC has been convened on the same day for sensitization of all DCOs of banks of District Level Government officials.

4. Identification of Target Groups and Strategy Formulation HEALTH MGNREGA ELECTION SHG GROUP SMALL SCALE INDUSTRY FARMERS SHIKSHASHREE KANYASHRE E

5. North 24 Parganas District Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Youjna Survey Form Base Bank Branch with Address : Block/ MunicipalityP.S : Part No: (As per Electoral Roll) Household No / G.P. / Ward no Mouza Sl No. Name of the member of Household Age Sex (M/F/ O) MGNREGA Job Card No. Voter Id Card No. Adhar / Enrolment Id No. PAN No. (Y/N) Kisan Credit Card (Y/N) IGNOAPS or other pension (Y/N) RSBY (Y/N) BPL (Y/N) Bank Account (Y/N) Kanyashree (Y/N) Sikhashree (Y/N) 1234567891011121314 HOF (M) 1 HOF (F) 2 Other Members 3 4 5 6 Signature of Surveyor Mobile No Survey Format

6.  In July 2014, when the PMJDY scheme was under way, we had viewed this as a great opportunity for change-towards financial empowerment, which comes from greater financial control and choice. District officials and bank representatives had brainstormed over this, and it was decided that two accounts per HH would be initially aimed at.  A detailed survey was conducted. Banking correspondence, SHGs, local youth clubs, Bank Mitras were engaged and specific deadline was given to them for completion of the survey. Remuneration per HH were given to provide a greater sense of encouragement and participation.  Strong emphasis was laid on SSAs (Sub-Service Areas)- their identification through this survey and concentration of IEC activities in the areas so identified.

7. Initiatives Undertaken  Regular Meetings are held at District & Block Levels  Sensitization of all Bank Branch Manager by organizing special review meeting by controlling offices of individual Banks.  Organization of awareness camps at remote villages  Publicity through miking distribution of Hand bills display of banners posters in all important public places including educational institutions  Several Financial & Literacy Camps at village levels & ward levels organized in all melas in convergence with different development schemes – 131 in total.  Incentives were given to best performing banks and felicitation done quarterly which improved our Rupay card delivery.

8. Convergence  The key concept of convergence was brought in. An exhaustive list of Govt. schemes that required opening of bank accounts were drawn up- MGNREGA, Kanyashree, Health schemes, Artisans and weavers credit card, pension schemes for old age, women & differently abled, housing schemes of IAY, Geetanjali etc, Shikshyashree.  Need for utilization of field personnel cutting across the department were strongly felt. Awareness was created through BLOs, ANMs, ASHA workers, GP representatives, Govt. officials etc. Besides creating a considerably high degree of awareness, they served two very significant purposes- identifying the gaps (households without a bank A/c) and communicating the same to the banking correspondents, and propagandizing the features of accidental insurance and the need for minimum transaction in the A/c within that stipulated period of time.

9. HEALTH DEPARTMENT  Survey of RSBY Beneficiaries (BPL Families 307590 and NREGA Beneficiaries 71196) done and accounts opened for health insurance scheme.  Janani Suraksha Yojana- 42101 pregnant women were motivated to open bank accounts.  Camps held & facilitation of account opening

10.  Accounts opened for 28051 artisans & weavers through Camps organised.  Total 38 awareness camps in Municipalities & Blocks where Self Employment Schemes among local youths were discussed  Monthly Finance Clinic organised in DIC where all DCOs participated.  This enabled direct interaction between entrepreneur & banks Small Scale Industries

11. Self Help Group  There are 20496 Women SHG with a total member of 236699.  Out of them 34865 are already enrolled in Insurance & Pension Scheme as on 31.01.2016.

12. MGNREGA Due to the implementation of e-FMS procedure Post office account holders were getting their wages far later than bank account holder in late 2014. At this very moment The Ministry had announced “Pradhan Mantri Jana Dhana Yojna”. We took the opportunity for our MGNREGA Beneficiaries as in convergence mode to switching all their post office account to bank account. Special GRD for opening Bank Account under PMJDY. Special IEC for opening bank account under this convergence scheme Distribute bank opening form to those active Job Card Holders who did not have Bank account.

13. North 24 Parganas was the first district in West Bengal to roll out e-fms district. It was a bi-product of PMJDY in so far as the A/C opening part was concerned. In MGNREGA, not only were new A/cs opened, but existing A/cs were substantially bifurcated and new A/cs were opened in the name of the female head of the family. This was a very significant step forward towards women empowerment. Gram Sahayak & other personnel supervised the MGNREGA A/c opening closely & any gaps found were communicated to LDM for convergence.

14. A comparative statistics of total number of Bank account for NREGA beneficiaries on August’2014 and 31 st January’2016 District:North 24 Parganas Name of The Block No of Bank Date No. of Bank Account Opened Total Account IndividualJoint 2223 Upto 28-08-2014 374,113 44,173418,286 Upto 31- 01-2016 740,46988,292828,761

15. Collection of Aadhaar Number Again we found there are substantial amount of lacking in terms of bank account linkage with Aadhaar number. We found beneficiaries having Aadhar number without bank account number. For Aadhaar linking with Bank Account we took the following activities: These enhance the a lot in reference to increase shifting of bank account from post office.

16. Initiative to open bank account under “Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna” Special IEC for opening Bank Account under this scheme. Engaged NREGA field supervisor to distribute bank opening forms under PMJDY. Informs BLOs(Booth Level Officers) to motivate Job Card Holders for opening Bank account under this scheme.

17.  Under Shikshashree scheme 121894 beneficiaries were targeted  School Level Camps conducted & accounts were opened on the spot & passbooks were delivered to the school children. Shikshashree

18. Kanyashree TargetAchived New K1 + Renewal New K2 + Up gradation New K1+ Renewal New K2 + Up gradation 170000 21000 73166 + 110884 = 184050 6331 + 22039 = 28370

19. Convergence with SRER Under this Programme, Booth Level Officers of all the polling Stations (8253) conducted house to house visit and collected Aadhaar No. / Mobile No./ Email Address of Electors in the prescribed proforma. BLOs (Booth Level Officers ) distributed leaflets, blank forms for opening of new account at the nearest bank and also acted as facilitators to motivate and help electors who did not have any bank A/C. 1829846 numbers of House holds were visited by the BLOs. They interacted with 2885009 electors and distributed 102311 blank forms for opening of account under Jan Dhan Yojana Leaflets and forms were also distributed on special camp days at polling stations.

21. Bank Mitra  On every 2000 Population 1 Bank Mitra have been appointed to cater Rural Folks  In Urban Areas kiosk opened in wards where there is no Bank Branch.  In the District Total 998 Bank Mitras were appointed in a short span of 5 months.  Facilities have been given at Customer Service Point run by Bank Mitras for Aadhaar Enabled Payment System Transactions.  Several Training programmes for Bank Mitras organised for upgradation of their attitude, knowledge & skills.

22. Efforts done on Rupay card Activation In DCC and BLBC meetings all the Bankers has been asked distribute Rupay cards issued under PMJDY scheme too customer after activation. Bankers have also been asked to guide there customers to visit any ATM/ POS/CSP/kisok for making transaction through Rupay card and go for transaction atleast once in a 45 days to avail the benefit of accidental insurance. For distribution of Rupay cards Camps have been organized at BC Points Villages and Bank branches. All BCs and Branch Managers have been asked to advised there customers to keep there Rupay Card active By making financial and non financial transaction within in 45 days which enhanced to 90 days for availing accidental insurance scheme 1 lacs. No of Rupay Card issued as on 31/12/2014 No. of Rupay Card Delivered as on 31/12/2014 No. of Rupay Card Activated as on 31/12/2014 463933366192214885

23. No of Account opened under PMJDY Scheme for the period from 18/08/2014 to 31/12/2014 (Saturated Date : 31/12/2014) Deposit in A/Cs opened under PMJDY– 2532.43 Lac

24. PMJDY data as on 17.02.2016 Total Amount : Rs. 5632546998

25. Monitoring Activities  Effective steps were taken by the banks as well. Programmes were taken up at regular intervals where top 3 BCs/CSP s (in terms of opening of A/c s ) were felicitated, and prizes in cash & kind were awarded for motivation. Substantial loans (Rs. 1 lakh at the rural level & 2 lakhs at the urban level) were given to BC s /Bank Mitras for creation of infrastructure at CSP level- purchase of laptops, ATM card-readers, Internet connectivity, etc. in a “Bank at your doorstep” mission mode.  BCs were also subjected to the condition of payment of salary only if they opened a minimum of 250 A/c s each month, and 300 transactions supervisory activities from the Base Branch and higher levels were sharply accentuated. This enhanced the competitive spirit, and was reflected in the overall performance.

26. Awareness Measures Financial literacy camps were organized throughout the district. Chiefly the different melas like Kisan-melas, agri-melas, health fairs etc. were targeted. About 138 such camps were held within that period. This helped in creating a much greater level of awareness amongst the general populace. Accounts were opened right up to the school level. Camps were held in all the High schools of the district, and accounts were opened. Over 4000 schools in the district activity participated.

27. Overall Achievement  The Survey not only helped in increasing number of bank accounts but also  Improved gender ratio in electoral rolls(2015 electoral rolls)  Aadhar card enrollment and seeding of MGNREGA card holders  DBTl (pahal scheme) coverage  Improved RSBY enrollment  Motivated SHG members better credit ratio  Enthused ASHA workers encouraged institutional deliveries.  Kanyashree enrollment, successful transfer of fund increase in age of marriage for girl child, reduction in school dropout  Yuvashree, Shikshashree performance improved  Better coverage of unbanked GPS through new kiosks since demand increased due to opening of bank accounts

28. Reflections Previously about 70% of the total A/c s were zero balance accounts. It has presently come down to 35% now, which seems to be an apt reflection of the increase in financial transaction, greater awareness and bold steps towards financial empowerment.

29. Scope for improvement A greater degree of participation and involvement from the insurance companies, namely LIC/GIC would have taken this effort to scale greater heights.

30. Way forward Rupay card reader has been provided to all CSPs wherein financial transactions may be made. CSPs serving as mini-ATMs