Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

Summary

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (transl. Prime Minister's Public Finance Scheme) is a financial inclusion program of the Government of India open to Indian citizens (minors of age 10 and older can also open an account with a guardian to manage it), that aims to expand affordable access to financial services such as bank accounts, remittances, credit, insurance and pensions. This financial inclusion campaign was launched by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 28 August 2014.[1] He had announced this scheme on his first Independence Day speech on 15 August 2014.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)
PM Modi launches the " Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana"
MottoMera Khata Bhagya Vidhata
Type of projectEconomic
CountryIndia
Prime Minister(s)Narendra Modi
MinistryFinance
Key peopleNirmala Sitharaman
Launched28 August 2014; 9 years ago (2014-08-28)
StatusActive
Websitewww.pmjdy.gov.in

Run by Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, under this scheme 15 million bank accounts were opened on inauguration day.[2][3] The Guinness Book of World Records 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 the Government of India from August 23 to 29, 2014".[4] By 27 June 2018, over 318 million bank accounts were opened and over ₹792 billion (US$12 billion) were deposited under the scheme.[5]

History edit

It was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 August 2014. The slogan of the scheme is "Mera Khaata, Bhagya Vidhata" (meaning "My account, fortune maker")[6] The scheme was launched after the failure of previous government schemes, including Swaabhimaan.[7] Swaabhimaan was a 2011 campaign of the Government of India which aimed to bring banking services to rural areas.

Investments edit

Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana statistics as on 17 Aug 2022 (All figures in crores)[5]

Jan Dhan Yojana was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 August 2014 and the scheme was launched on 28 August 2014.

Bank Type Number of Beneficiaries Deposits in Accounts Number of RuPay Cards
Rural/SemiUrban Urban Female Total
Public Sector Banks 22.84 13.61 20.09 36.45 133,815.32 27.44
Regional Rural Banks 7.39 1.16 4.93 8.54 34,156.99 3.41
Private Sector Banks 0.70 0.60 0.71 1.31 4,876.18 1.11
Total 30.93 15.37 25.73 46.30 172,848.48 31.95


Number of bank accounts opened annually[8]

Year Jandhan accounts (Cr)
Aug-15 17.9
Aug-16 24.1
Aug-17 30.9
Aug-18 32.55
Aug-19 36.79
Aug-20 40.41
Aug-21 43.04
Aug-22 46.25
Year Operative Jandhan accounts (Cr) Percentage
Aug-17 23.15 76%
Aug-18 26.34 80.9%
Aug-19 30.16 82%
Aug-20 34.9 86.3%
Aug-21 36.86 85.6%
Aug-22 37.57 81.2%
Year Deposit Amount in account (cr)
Aug-15 22901
Aug-16 42094
Aug-17 65799
Aug-18 82039
Aug-19 102415
Aug-20 130086
Aug-21 146230
Aug-22 173954


Year Average Deposit Amount per account (Rs)
Aug-15 1279
Aug-16 1747
Aug-17 2187
Aug-18 2521
Aug-19 2783
Aug-20 3219
Aug-21 3398
Aug-22 3761

Performance edit

Due to the preparations done in the run-up to the inauguration, 15 million bank accounts were opened on inauguration day.[2] The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, declared on this occasion, "Let us celebrate today as the day of financial freedom." By September 2014, 30.2 million accounts were opened:

[9] On 20 January 2015, the scheme entered the Guinness Book of World Records, setting a new record for 'The most bank accounts opened in one week'.[10]

The balances in Jan Dhan accounts rose by more than 270 billion (US$3.4 billion) between 9 November 2016 and 23 November 2016.[11] 1.9 million householders have availed of the overdraft facility of 2.56 billion (US$32 million) by May 2016.[12] Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have 29% of the total deposits under the scheme,[13] whereas Kerala and Goa became the first states in the country to have at least one basic bank account in every household.[14]

The total number of account holders stood at 294.8 million, including 176.1 million account holders from rural and semi-urban branches. A total of 227 million RuPay cards have been issued by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) till August 2017. The amount of deposits rose to 656.97 billion (US$8.2 billion) by August 2017.[6]

According to various studies, "Beyond enabling account ownership and the use of financial services, the PMJDY also facilitated financial inclusion for a variety of demographics. While the program has made significant headway towards genuine financial inclusion, it is clear that improving policy communication, widening and deepening progress in low-income states, and ironing out the kinks in the bank-agent model will be crucial if these hard-fought gains are to prove sustainable."[15] At least 300 million new families have got Jan Dhan accounts in which almost 650 billion (US$8.1 billion) have been deposited, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on 28 August 2017, on the eve of the third anniversary of the scheme.

As of January 27, 2021, a total number of 417.5 million accounts have been opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), out of which 359.6 million accounts are operative.[16]

Reactions edit

The scheme has been criticized by the opposition, and that it has created unnecessary work-burden on the public-sector banks. According to critics, offers like zero balance, free insurance and overdraft facility would result in duplication. Many individuals who already had bank accounts may have had accounts created in their names, lured by insurance cover and overdraft facility.[17] As per the scheme, a very few people are eligible to get the life insurance worth 30,000 (US$380) with a validity of just five years.[18] The claimed overdraft facility has been completely left upon the banks. As per the government notice, only those people would get the overdraft facility whose transaction record has satisfactory operations in their account for some time.[19] In March 2018, the Government of India stated that around 20% of Jan Dhan accounts were lying dormant.[20]

In addition, while the Indian Government was ostensibly actively attempting to promote financial inclusion through this scheme, the Reserve Bank of India, permitted banks to charge customers for conducting ATM transactions beyond a certain number of times per month. This effectively prevented people from easily accessing their own savings and discouraged them from using formal banking channels.[21][22][23]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Prime Minister to Launch Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana Tomorrow, Press Information Bureau, Govt. of India, 27 August 2014
  2. ^ a b ET Bureau (28 August 2014), PM 'Jan Dhan' Yojana launched; aims to open 1.5 crore bank accounts on first day, The Economic Times
  3. ^ "Modi: Banking for all to end "financial untouchability"". Reuters. 28 August 2014.
  4. ^ "Jan Dhan Yojana features in Guinness Book of World Records with 11.5 cr bank accounts". The Indian Express. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana", pmjdy.gov.in
  6. ^ a b "Jan Dhan scheme: Going strong 3 years on", The Hindu Business Line, 14 August 2017
  7. ^ Acharya, Namrata (23 November 2015), "Why government's financial inclusion plans are floundering", Business Standard
  8. ^ Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) - National Mission for Financial Inclusion, completes eight years of successful implementation Ministry of Finance
  9. ^ "SBI takes lead in opening bank accounts under Jan Dhan Yojana", The Economic Times, 11 September 2014
  10. ^ "India makes financial world record as millions open new bank accounts", Guinness World Records, 20 January 2015
  11. ^ "Keep the black money deposited in your account: PM to Jan Dhan holders", The Economic Times, 3 December 2016
  12. ^ "Financial inclusion gets a boost with Jan Dhan Yojana", The Economic Times, 11 May 2016
  13. ^ Acharya, Namrata (26 May 2016), "Why Jan-Dhan Yojana is gaining currency in Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal", Business Standard
  14. ^ "Over 26k Jan Dhan bank accounts in Goa have zero balance", The Times of India, 2 June 2016
  15. ^ "The admirable success of the Jan Dhan Yojana". Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  16. ^ "41.75 Cr accounts opened under the scheme". Rural Marketing.
  17. ^ "Critics attack 'wasteful, ineffective' PM Jan Dhan Yojana". Moneycontrol.com.
  18. ^ "PMJDY". accounts.google.com. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  19. ^ "Facilities Available to Account Holders Under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) to be Extended to the Existing Account Holders as Well", PIB
  20. ^ "20% Jan Dhan accounts lying dormant: Minister".
  21. ^ "Making ATM transactions expensive: Is RBI contradicting its own stance? - Firstpost". www.firstpost.com. 17 August 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  22. ^ Rebello, Joel (15 September 2014). "Rajan defends RBI stand ATM fees, two-factor authentication". livemint.com/. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  23. ^ Shetty, Mayur (4 July 2017). "Vague RBI guidelines see banks cap PM's Jan Dhan Yojana accounts". The Economic Times. Retrieved 19 February 2018.

External links edit

  • Official website