Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan YojanaA (PMJDY), the financial inclusion scheme of the Narendra Modi government, was Thursday launched in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh by Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu respectively.Chandrababu Naidu was the first to formally inaugurate the scheme at Rajahmundry in East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh. "It is a major step towards poverty eradication," said Naidu, whose Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is a partner in National Democratic Alliance (NDA) central government.Speaking on the occasion, the TDP chief said the state and central governments could now directly transfer pension and monetary benefits under various schemes to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
The chief minister said the scheme would also help in checking corruption in implementation of welfare schemes.C. V. R. Rajendran, chairman and managing director, Andhra Bank and president of State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) of Andhra Pradesh was also present.Three mega camps were also held at Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Anantapur for people to open bank accounts. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju launched the camp at Visakhapatnam, while Heavy Industries Minister Anant Geete inaugurated the camp at Tirupati.Venkaiah Naidu launched PMJDY in Hyderabad. Telangana Finance Minister E. Rajender also attended the programme organized by State Bank of Hyderabad as SLBC of Telangana.