New Delhi, Oct 28: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Monday claimed that thousands of tribal people in Jharkhand are unable to access their own money in bank accounts for want of Know Your Customer (KYC) and urged the RBI to review the process for such communities.
In a post on X, Ramesh pointed out that the tribal people in India’s poorest of poor districts are unable to get their money earned through MGNREGA or cash transfer from the Jharkhand government.
Ramesh cited reports about a survey conducted by NREGA Sahayta Kendras in Jharkhand’s Latehar and Lohardaga districts which are very poor.
“Thoughtlessness and lack of policy coordination characterizes the non-biological PM and his Government’s policymaking,” he said in his post citing news reports.
“While the Union Government has followed the Direct Benefits Transfer initiative of the Dr. Manmohan Singh administration (of course without acknowledging it), it has failed to coordinate with the RBI to ensure widespread banking access.
“The RBI’s imposition of rigid KYC norms, and the requirement to update them every few years, has left tens of thousands in India’s poorest districts unable to access their bank accounts,” he claimed.
Ramesh, who is a former Union minister for rural development, said NREGA Sahayta Kendras surveyed 244 households in Latehar and Lohardaga, two Adivasi-majority districts of Jharkhand.
They found that 60 per cent of those surveyed had at least one frozen bank account, mostly on account of minor inconsistencies in names, addresses or other information, he said.
“They are unable to access their own money, including their wages from MGNREGA work, or the cash transfer from the Jharkhand Government’s Maiya Samman Yojana.
“These requirements have also crippled the banking system in these areas, with banks overwhelmed by the regulatory burden placed on them. The RBI must immediately review the KYC process for these communities,” the Congress leader demanded. (PTI)
