Over 53 lakh bank accounts opened in Kerala under Jan Dhan Yojana, says Union Minister

Ramdas Athawale evaluates implementation of Centrally-administered schemes in the State

Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale has said 53.62 lakh banks accounts had been opened in Kerala under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. He was addressing a press conference after evaluating the implementation of the Centrally-administered schemes in the State here on Saturday.

Mr. Athawale said ₹1.26 crore had been disbursed as loans under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana. While 3.41 lakh families have benefitted from gas connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, 1.13 lakh houses had been constructed in urban areas in the State as part of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

He said that 1,658 old-age homes had been established in the country with the help of the Social Justice department, and among them, nine were in Kerala. As many as 109 of the 1,720 de-addiction centres functioning with the financial assistance of the Department of Social Justice were in Kerala, said Mr. Athawale, adding that the Centre was willing to start one old-age home in each district in the State with the cooperation of NGOs.

He stated that his Ministry, which “handles the needs of 85% of the population”, had been assigned a budget of ₹1,42,344 crore.

Asked about the alleged denial of scholarships to students of Lakshadweep, Mr. Athawale said though the archipelago is dominated by Scheduled Tribes whose welfare is under a different Ministry, he would take up the matter with the Ministry and the island authorities.

(The student community in the island is up in arms over the suspension of the previous scholarship system and its replacement with the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) which, they allege, has disrupted the distribution of scholarships over the last couple of years, forcing many to even discontinue their studies.)

Mr. Athawale said the three-member K.G. Balakrishnan Committee appointed to examine the Scheduled Caste status to converted Dalits is expected to submit the report in six months, following which the government will take a decision. A similar study is under way by the Rohini Commission about the sub-categorisation of OBCs, he pointed out.