The country’s financial inclusion initiative or Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) which was launched 6 years ago, has over 403.5 million accounts with total deposits in excess of 1.30 lakh crore rupees, said the Union finance ministry.
The PM Jan Dhan Yojana scheme has now become the basis of direct transfer of cash subsidy to the poor, which was announced by PM Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech on 15th August 2014.
PMJDY Scheme is benefitting crores of people:
PM Modi tweeted on Friday which reads, “Today, six years ago, the PMJDY was launched with an ambitious aim of banking the unbanked. This initiative has been a game-changer & serving as the foundation for several poverty alleviation initiatives, benefitting crores of people.”
The statement said that the government is planning to expand the scheme to give insurance coverage to PMJDY account holders. “Eligible PMJDY account holders will be sought to be covered under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY). Banks have already been communicated about the same.”
Promotion of digital payments:
Adding to it, the government is also planning to promote digital payments which include RuPay debit card usage, among PMJDY account holders via the creation of acceptance infrastructure across the country, and giving access to the account holders to micro-credit & micro-investment facilities.
As per the statement, as on August 19, from the total PMJDY account holders, 63.6 percent were in rural areas and 55.2 percent accounts belonged to women. The PM said in another tweet “Thanks to the PMJDY, the future of several families has become secure. A high proportion of beneficiaries is from rural areas and is women.”
It further added, financial inclusion is a national priority of the government, as it is an enabler for inclusive growth, the finance ministry said. “It is important as it provides an avenue to the poor for bringing their savings into the formal financial system, an avenue to remit money to their families in villages besides taking them out of the clutches of the usurious money lenders.”
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According to the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, “The PM Jan Dhan Yojana has been the foundation stone for the Modi government’s people-centric economic initiatives. Whether it is direct benefit transfers (DBTs), coronavirus disease (Covid-19) financial assistance, PM-KISAN, increased wages under the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005), life and health insurance cover, the first step was to provide every adult with a bank account, which PMJDY has nearly completed.”
The statement said “A total of Rs 30,705 crore have been credited in accounts of women PMJDY account holders during April-June. In August, about 86.3% (348.1 million) accounts were operative.
According to the guidelines of RBI, a PMJDY account is treated as inoperative, if there is no customer induced transactions in the account for more than a period of 2 years.
The statement also said, at present, these accounts have a deposit balance of Rs 1.31 lakh crore, with an average deposit of Rs 3,239 per account. The average deposit per account has increased 2.5 times, indicating increased usage of accounts and inculcation of saving habits among the PMJDY account holders.
Jan Dhan Darshak App:
It added the Jan Dhan account holders can also take the help of ‘Jan Dhan Darshak App’, a mobile application, for locating banking touchpoints like bank branches, automated teller machines (ATMs), Bank Mitras & post offices. There are more than 8 lakh banking touchpoints.
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