The net balance in accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana went up by Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 63, 971.38 crore during the week that ended on April 5, as per the data made available on the scheme’s website. The net balance in the accounts as of March 29 was Rs 62,972.42 crore.

This is the first time that the net balance in the accounts under the programme has increased on a weekly basis, PTI reported. The number of accounts opened have also increased from 28.16 crore to 28.23 crore. As many as 18.50 crore accounts have been seeded with Aadhaar details, as per the Finance Ministry’s data.

After Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were demonetised on November 8 last year, there had been a surge in the total deposits made in the Jan Dhan accounts. It had reached a record high of Rs 74,610 crore on December 7, but started declining afterwards.

On November 18, the Centre had warned Jan Dhan account holders of prosecution under the Income Tax Act if the accounts were missed. The government had also set a cash deposit limit of Rs 50,000 so that no one could use the accounts to deposit black money. The decision came after reports suggested that some individuals were misusing others’ bank accounts to deposit demonetised notes.