-The Indian Express Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to ensure "universal coverage" under Aadhaar by June 2015. According to government officials, the PM set the deadline at a high-level meeting chaired by him in the first week of September. The target was reiterated in the minutes of the meeting circulated to all the concerned departments. Directions have also been issued to the Registrar General...

-The Hindu Business Line   Opening bank accounts in rural areas is all very well, but biometric frauds are a serious possibility The ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) aims at bringing millions of rural Indians within the financial mainstream by opening bank accounts. In 2006, the Reserve of India, recognising that a majority of rural Indians had little or no access to banking services, allowed banks to use third-party, non-bank agents...

-The Hindustan Times The finance ministry will soon initiate a survey to assess the efficacy of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) and analyse how many accounts have been opened. The report will be sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. About 40 million accounts have been opened under the scheme so far. "We would soon initiate a survey to understand how many unbanked households have been covered region-wise," a senior finance ministry...

-Down to Earth Modi government plans to revive cash benefit transfer scheme of previous government Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious financial inclusion programme-the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMGDY)-was launched on August 28 this year there have been misgivings over the haste shown by the government to open banks accounts to cover all rural households. Now a statement of a senior government official in the finance ministry shows the pitfalls...

-The Business Standard Based on the credit history banks may later decide to extend the amount Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, the overdraft facility initially offered by banks will be less than Rs 5,000, the highest under the scheme. Based on credit history, lenders might extend the amount at a later stage. Earlier, the finance ministry had clarified a lower amount might be extended under the overdraft scheme. Under this, on...