New Delhi, May 2 (IANS): Banks will start remitting the second instalment of Rs 500 to women Jan Dhan bank account holders from Monday.

Under the staggered withdrawal plan for the month of May decided by the department of financial services, banks will allow customers whose account number ends with 0 and 1 to withdraw the support money on Monday.

Similarly, those with account numbers ending with 2 and 3 can make withdrawals on May 5, numbers 4 and 5 on May 6, numbers 6 and 7 on May 8 and numbers 8 and 9 on May 11.

After May 11, the beneficiaries can withdraw money at any bank any day at their convenience.

The staggered plan was implemented in April as well when the first instalment of relief was released by the government. The plan is being followed to prevent rush of account holders looking for cash during the difficult period of the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

As part of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package, a sum of Rs 500 per month, for the next three months, is being deposited into the accounts of women Jan D han Yojana account holders.

In a tweet on Saturday, banking secretary Debasish Panda informed that the May instalment of money for women Jan Dhan account holders is being released to the banks.

"The money is completely safe and to avoid crowding at banks, people should follow the given time table for withdrawal," he tweeted.

The staggered plan was worked out as banks feared that this financial support could result in people rushing for withdrawals and crowding bank branches, violating the social distancing norms being practised to fight the deadly virus .

The finance ministry has also requested the beneficiaries to use neighbourhood ATMs, bank Mitras for making cash withdrawals upto Rs 2,000 as far as possible and not crowd the branches. At present there are no charges for withdrawing money from any bank's ATM.