Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana – one of the world’s largest financial inclusion initiatives

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMDJY), is one of the largest financial inclusion initiatives in the world. The scheme was announced by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 15th August 2014 from the ramparts of the Red Fort. While launching the programme on 28th August, the Prime Minister had described the occasion as a festival to celebrate the liberation of the poor from a vicious cycle.

Shri Narendra Modi had referred to the ancient Sanskrit verse “Sukhasya Moolam Dharma, Dharmasya Moolam Artha, Artasya Moolam Rajyam”

It puts the onus on the state to involve people in economic activity.

Slogan of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is “Mera Khaata, Bhahya Vidhata”. The scheme was launched after failure of previous government schemes, including Swaabhimaan. Swaabhimaan was a 2011 campaign of the Government of India which aimed to bring banking services to rural areas.

PM Modi has also emphasized upon the importance of Jan Dhan Accounts for the marginalized sections of the society by stating that they have opened the way for loans for the poor without collateral and provided Direct Benefit Transfer to the accounts of the targeted beneficiaries. These accounts were the key mobility for providing homes, toilets, gas subsidy and benefit schemes for farmers could be ensured seamlessly.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is open to Indian citizens (minors of age 10 and older can also an account with a guardian to manage it) and it aims to expand affordable access to financial services such as bank accounts, remittances, credit, insurance and pensions.

It is run by Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, under this scheme 15 million bank accounts were opened on the inauguration day. The Guinness Book of World Record recognized this achievement, stating, “The most bank accounts opened in one week as a part of the financial inclusion campaign is 18,096,130 and was achieved by Government of India from August 23 to 29, 2014.

The total balance in the basic bank accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMDJY) has crossed the Rs 1.75 lakh crore. More than 46.25 crore beneficiaries banked under PMJDY Account, since its inception , amounting to Rs. 1,73,954 crore.

“Financial inclusion is a major step towards inclusive growth which ensures overall economic development of marginalized sections of society.  PMJDY has become the foundation stone for the government’s people centric economic initiatives.”

She has also stated that there has been a marked shift in the approach of government Financial Inclusion program and the focus has shifted from “every household” to “every adult” with added emphasis on usage of accounts by enhancing direct benefit transfer flows through these accounts by enhancing direct benefit transfer flows through these accounts, promoting digital payments through these accounts by enhancing direct benefit transfer flows through these accounts, promoting digital payments through the use of Rupay cards. PMJDY is one of the essential components of the JAM trinity – Jan Dhan accounts, Aadhaar identification and mobile accessibility – a tool to provide subsidies to identified beneficiaries without any leakage.

MoS Finance, Dr. Bharat Karad, “PMJDY account holders grew 3-fold from 14.72 crore in Mar’15 to 46.25 crore as on 10-08-2022.

56% Jan-Dhan account holders are women and 67% Jan Dhan accounts in rural and semi-urban areas. 31.94 crore RuPay cards issued to PMJDY accountholders About 5.4 crore PMJDY account holders received direct benefit transfer (DBT) from the Government under various schemes in June, 2022.

Women beneficiaries own a larger chunk in the scheme at 26.16 crore account of which the bulk (31.42 cror accounts) are in rural and semi-urban areas. “Public sector banks (PSBs) have made significant contribution. Of the total ₹1.75 lakh crore balance, PSB’s account for ₹1.35 lakh crore, followed by Regional Rural Banks with ₹34,573 crore,’‘ a senior official of State Bank of India said.

Among states, Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 84,341,592 (84 million) PMJDY accounts as on October 12. The total number of Jan-Dhan accounts in Bihar is 53,142,192 (53 million) , West Bengal (46,381,168), Madhya Pradesh (38,674,997), Rajasthan (32,441,143) and Maharashtra (32,085,689).

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