New Delhi: Arresting the trend of withdrawals that began in December, the net balance in Jan Dhan accounts swelled by Rs1,000 crore to Rs63,971.38 crore during the week ended 5 April.

The net balance in the accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was Rs62,972.42 crore on 29 March, as per the finance ministry’s data. Total deposits in these accounts had increased to a record high of Rs74,610 crore on 7 December and thereafter, started declining gradually.

As per the PMJDY data for 5 April, it is for the first time the net balance in the accounts has shown an increase on a weekly basis. PMJDY was launched in August 2014 to increase banking penetration and promote financial inclusion in the country. Meanwhile, the number of Jan Dhan accounts have increased to 28.23 crore of which 18.50 crore have been seeded with Aadhaar.

The deposits in the accounts had surged following demonetisation of old Rs500/1,000 notes in November last year. After setting a cash deposit limit of Rs50,000 in Jan Dhan accounts, the government had on 18 November cautioned account holders that they will be prosecuted under the Income Tax Act for allowing misuse of their bank accounts through deposit of black money in Rs500/1,000 notes during the 50-day window till 30 December.

The directive came against the backdrop of reports that some persons were misusing other people’ bank accounts to deposit demonetised notes.

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