Former JNU student Kanhiya Kumar on January 22nd posted a tweet in which he claimed that people with bank accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna, have been penalised for not maintaining a minimum balance.
The tweet read: “गप्पू जी ने पहले जन-धन योजना में बैंक में खाता खुलवाया, फिर नोटबंदी करके सारा पैसा उसमें डलवाया, फिर मिनिमम बैलेंस पर फ़ाइन लगाकर हज़ारों करोड़ कमाया और फिर धन्नासेठों का तीन लाख करोड़ का लोन माफ़ कर दिया। पता है ना आपको?”
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(Translation: ‘Gappu ji opened a Jan Dhan Yojna Bank account, then after Demonetisation government made him put all the money in his account and now penalised for not maintaining a minimum balance, which earned thousands of crores of rupees.”)
The tweet had got over 3,000 retweets before it was deleted.
FACT CHECK
On analysing the claims made by Kanhaiya Kumar, we found out that he was making the false statement. It is true that Indian banks charge a penalty for not maintaining a minimum balance in the ‘savings account’, but it is completely false for Jan Dhan Accounts.
Under Jan Dhan Yojana Scheme there is no such minimum balance requirement.
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The State Bank on India in a tweet dated September 16, 2017, clarified that no minimum balance is required for Jan Dhan Accounts.
Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Small accounts and Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) accounts are exempt from MAB requirement and (3/6)
— State Bank of India (@TheOfficialSBI) September 16, 2017
Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, people can open bank accounts which are zero balance SBI savings accounts for the purpose of financial inclusion and these accounts do not require maintenance of a particular minimum balance.