East Singhbhum district administration has geared up to enforce social distancing to prevent crowding by beneficiaries of Jan Dhan Yojana from Friday.

“Starting Friday, all banks have been asked to inform the nearest police stations for extra personnel to ensure social distancing in view of the apprehension of crowding, mostly by women beneficiaries, for getting their Jan Dhan Yojana amounts,” said East Singhbhum senior superintendent of police Anoop Birtharay.

According to the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) directive, banks will start depositing Rs 500 per month from Friday in the Jan Dhan Yojana accounts of women beneficiaries.

The remittances under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana will be credited to the account of the beneficiaries between April 3 and 9.

Lead district manager for East Singhbhum and senior official of Bank of India, Anil Kumar, said all banks have been asked to click photographs of beneficiaries and send it to their zonal offices as proof of adherence to social distancing during banking hours (between 10am and 4pm).

“The banks have been directed to ensure strict compliance of social distance (at least a metre) among beneficiaries of the scheme, click pictures at different points of time and send the pictures to their zonal offices.

“We have also asked all banks to keep enough stock of hand sanitisers at the entry point of the banks in view of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Anil Kumar.

Beneficiaries with 0 and 1 as the last digits of their Jan Dhan Yojana account numbers can withdraw money on Friday, while those whose accounts end with digits 2 and 3 will be able to withdraw money on April 4.

On April 7, account holders with 4 or 5 as the last digits can withdraw the monthly remittance, while those having 6 or 7 in the last digit of their accounts can withdraw the sum on April 8. Account holders whose account numbers end with 8 or 9 can withdraw their money on April 9.