Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday urged the Jan Dhan (PMJDY) beneficiaries to follow the schedule laid out by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) for withdrawal of Rs 500 ex-gratia amount.

From today onwards, all banks have started remitting first monthly installment of Rs 500 to Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana beneficiary’s accounts in line with the announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week.

The minister also requested people to maintain social distancing and avoid creating chaos at banks.

“Appealing PMJDY women a/c holders to check last digit of their a/c no. & follow schedule shared below to visit banks, CSP & Bank Mitras. Withdrawal can also be done via any bank’s ATM. No charges for using ATM. Let’s follow social distancing & fight #corona,” Financial Services Secretary Debasish Panda said in a tweet.

As per IBS’s schedule, women Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) account holders having account number with last digit as 0 and 1 will get the money in their account on April 3, while account ending with 2 or 3 can approach the bank on April 4. Beneficiaries with account number ending with 4 or 5 can collect their money on April 7, while account ending with 6 or 7 may withdraw on the following day. The last tranche would be remitted on April 9 for account number ending with 8 or 9, it said.

The IBA chalked out the plan keeping all the bankers’ health safety in mind. In a recent statement the IBA has said that women beneficiaries of the scheme need not rush to the banks to withdraw money as it can be accessed by them at their convenience.

While in case of urgency, women can withdraw the money immediately, for orderly disbursal, they may follow banks’ payment plan, the ministry requested the beneficiaries.

Authorities are encouraging beneficiaries to use their neighbourhood ATMs with RuPay cards, Bank Mitras, CSPs as much as possible to avoid crowding at the branches.

During this lockdown period, government has directed banks not to charge their customers for withdrawing money from other bank’s ATMs.