Jan Dhan Yojana revolutionised financial inclusion in India: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that Jan Dhan Yojana-led interventions and digital transformation have revolutionised financial inclusion in the country, as more than 50 crore people have been brought into the formal banking system with cumulative deposits surpassing Rs 2 lakh crore.
On the ninth anniversary of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which is one of the biggest financial inclusion initiatives in the world, Sitharaman said in her message that 55.5% of bank accounts have been opened by women, and 67 percent have been opened in rural or semi-rural areas. Under the scheme, the number of bank accounts grew 3.4-fold from 14.72 crore in March 2015 to 50.09 crore as of August 16, 2023. Total deposits, too, have swelled from Rs 15,670 crore as of March 2015 to over Rs 2.03 lakh crore as of August 2023.
The average deposits in Jan Dhan accounts have increased 3.8 times, from Rs 1,065 as of March 2015 to Rs 4,063 in August 2023. About 34 crore RuPay cards have been issued to these accounts without charge, which also provides for a Rs 2 lakh accident insurance cover. The zero-balance accounts under the scheme have been reduced to 8 percent of total accounts as of August 2023, from 58 percent in March 2015.
Sitharaman said, The nine years of PMJDY-led interventions and digital transformation have revolutionised financial inclusion in India. 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”.
Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said the Jan Dhan Adhaar Mobile (JAM) architecture has enabled the successful transfer of government benefits into the accounts of the common man seamlessly. “PMJDY accounts have become the fulcrum of people-centric initiatives like Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and have contributed towards inclusive growth of all sections of society, especially the underprivileged,” Karad said.
The PMJDY was launched on August 28, 2014, with the aim of providing universal banking services through the opening of zero-balance bank accounts for every unbanked household, based on the guiding principles of banking the unbanked, securing the unsecured, and funding the unfunded.