Nine Years of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) – the National Mission for Financial Inclusion - completes nine years of successful implementation.

The PMJDY was announced by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address on 15th August 2014. While launching the programme on 28th August 2014, the Prime Minister had described the occasion as a festival to celebrate the liberation of the poor from a vicious cycle.

Being one of the biggest financial inclusion initiatives in the world, the Ministry of Finance continuously endeavours to provide financial inclusiveness and support to the marginalised and economically backward sections through its financial inclusion led interventions. Financial Inclusion (FI) promotes equitable and inclusive growth as well as delivery of financial services at an affordable cost to vulnerable groups such as low-income groups and weaker sections that lack access to basic banking services.

Financial Inclusion also brings savings of the poor into the formal financial system and provides an avenue to remit money to their families in villages besides taking them out of the clutches of the usurious money lenders.

On the 9th anniversary of PMJDY, Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, in her message said, “The 9 years of PMJDY-led interventions and digital transformation have revolutionised financial inclusion in India.  It is heartening to note that more than 50 crore people have been brought into the formal banking system through the opening of Jan Dhan Accounts. Among these accounts, approximately 55.5% belong to women, and 67% have been opened in Rural / Semi-Urban areas. The cumulative deposits in these accounts surpass Rs 2 lakh crore.  Furthermore, about 34 crore RuPay cards have been issued to these accounts without charge, which also provides for a Rs 2 lakh accident insurance cover.”

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“With the collaborative efforts of stakeholders, banks, insurance companies, and government officials, the PMJDY stands out as a pivotal initiative, changing the landscape of financial inclusion in the country as envisioned by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,” Smt. Sitharaman said.

Union Minister of State for Finance Dr. Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad also expressed his thoughts for PMJDY on this occasion. He said, “PMJDY scheme has reduced financial untouchability by bringing the marginalised sections of the society into the ambit of formal banking. By providing access to banking facilities to vulnerable sections of the society, facilitating access to availability of credit, providing insurance and pension coverage and creating financial awareness, the outcomes of the scheme are far reaching and have a multiplier effect on the economy. Further, Jan Dhan–Aadhaar–Mobile (JAM) architecture has enabled successful transfer of Government benefits in the accounts of common man seamlessly. PMJDY accounts have become fulcrum of people-centric initiatives like DBT and has contributed towards inclusive growth of all sections of the society, especially the underprivileged.”

As we complete 9 years of successful implementation of this Scheme, we take a look at the major aspects and achievements of this Scheme so far.

Background

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner.

Objectives:
Ensure access of financial products & services at an affordable cost
Use of technology to lower cost & widen reach
Basic tenets of the scheme
Banking the unbanked - Opening of basic savings bank deposit (BSBD) account with minimal paperwork, relaxed KYC, e-KYC, account opening in camp mode, zero balance & zero charges
Securing the unsecured - Issuance of Indigenous Debit cards for cash withdrawals & payments at merchant locations, with free accident insurance coverage of Rs. 2 lakhs
Funding the unfunded - Other financial products like micro-insurance, overdraft for consumption, micro-pension & micro-credit

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A total of 6.01 lakh villages are mapped on the JDD app as of July 2023. Out of these, 5,99,468 (99.7%) of total mapped villages are covered with banking outlets (Bank branch, Banking corner or Indian Post Payment Banks (IPPB) within 5 km radius).

Towards ensuring smooth DBT transactions
As informed by banks, about 6.26 crore PMJDY accountholders receive direct benefit transfer (DBT) from the Government under various schemes. To ensure that the eligible beneficiaries receive their DBT in time, the Department takes active role in identification of avoidable reasons for DBT failures in consultation with DBT Mission, NPCI, banks and various other Ministries.

Digital transactions: With the issue of over 33.98 crore RuPay debit cards under PMJDY, installation of 79.61 lakh PoS/mPoS machines and the introduction of mobile based payment systems like UPI, the total number of digital transactions have gone up from 1,471 crore in FY 17-18 to 11,394 crore in FY 22-23.  The total number of UPI financial transactions have increased from 92 crore in FY 2017-18 to 8,371 crore in FY 2022-23. Similarly, total number of RuPay card transactions at PoS & e-commerce have increased from 67 crore in FY 2017-18 to 126 crore in FY 2022-23.

The road ahead

• Endeavour to ensure coverage of PMJDY account holders under micro insurance schemes. Eligible PMJDY accountholders will be sought to be covered under PMJJBY and PMSBY. Banks have already been communicated about the same.
• Promotion of digital payments including RuPay debit card usage amongst PMJDY accountholders through creation of acceptance infrastructure across India
• Improving access of PMJDY account holders to Micro-credit and micro investment such as flexi-recurring deposit etc.

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