Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday launched a massive banking program by opening 15 million bank accounts to provide insurance to the account holders, most of whom are the country's poor people.
"One-and-a-half crore (15 million) insurance policies on a single day, and 1.5 crore bank accounts opened in a day would never have happened before. This is a big record in banking and insurance history," Modi said at the launching ceremony.
Over 77,000 camps were set up for opening accounts, the prime minister said.
The program is aimed at providing 75 million households in the country with a bank account and insurance policy within one year.
Each account has 5,000 rupees (83 U.S. dollars).
"This whole exercise is aimed at lifting the poor out of the poverty line. After today's breakthrough momentum, I don't think it will stop," said the prime minister.