Ranchi: Jharkhand has secured the top spot in terms of re-know your customer (Re-KYC) of bank accounts with a figure of around 51%, said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regional director Prem Ranjan Prasad Singh on Monday during the launch of financial literacy week in the state. He added that the KYCs of almost 28 lakh out of 54 lakh accounts in the state has been done so far.This year’s theme of the literacy week is ‘KYC- Surakshit Banking Mein Pehla Kadam’. The programme would educate people on various issues such as KYC, central KYC (CKYC) registry, account hygiene and discipline and also legal implications of allowing mule accounts for cyber frauds.
Singh said that the banks should continue their effort to complete re-KYC of focus group of accounts, which are operative or has become inoperative less than a year ago. He said that this group has around 10.42 lakh accounts and they should be covered under KYC in totality.He said, “While the bankers of the state are conducting camps at block and the district levels for the re-KYC, we should also follow examples of some other states who are holding meetings at the gram sabha and facilitating the local residents to get KYC of their accounts done. Mass participation programme should be conducted at the village in this regard during this week in Jharkhand as well.” He stressed that the KYC would prevent the inoperative accounts from being used as mule accounts. He also spoke about KYA (know your accounts), which would enable an account holder to know whether transactions from his accounts are genuine.On financial literacy, he said that RBI has a special plan to hold street plays in 125 schools to spread awareness among the students this year. He added that similar programmes like ‘RBI Pathshala’ in 90 schools and ‘Jadu Se Jagrukta’ in 101 schools were held in the last two years.Speaking to the media, he said that accounts which are inoperative for a long period are posing challenge as their holders are not easily traceable. He said that around two lakh accounts of the focused group have been registered with KYC so far.Several senior officers from NABARD, State Bank of India and other banks were present at the inaugural session of financial literacy week.
