Seven years into its launch, bank accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) have swelled to 43 crore with total deposits crossing Rs 1.46 lakh crore. Appreciating the untiring efforts of all those who have worked to make PMJDY a success, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said their efforts have ensured the people of India lead a better quality of life.
“Today we mark seven years of #PMJanDhan, an initiative that has forever transformed India’s development trajectory. It has ensured financial inclusion and a life of dignity as well as empowerment for countless Indians. Jan Dhan Yojana has also helped further transparency,” the Prime Minister tweeted,
The PMJDY was announced by Modi in his Independence Day address on August 15, 2014 and was simultaneously launched on August 28 to foster financial inclusion. This national mission was launched to ensure people have access to financial services, namely, banking, remittance, credit, insurance, pension in an affordable manner.
As on August 18, 2021, the number of total PMJDY accounts stood at 43.04 crore. Of this, 55.47 per cent (23.87 crore) Jan-Dhan account holders are women and 66.69 per cent (28.70 crore) holders are in rural and semi-urban areas, the finance ministry said in a statement.
During the first year of the scheme, 17.90 crore PMJDY accounts were opened. Out of total 43.04 crore PMJDY accounts, 36.86 crore or 85.6 per cent are operative, and the average deposit per account is Rs 3,398, as per the Finance Ministry’s statement.
Increase in average deposit is another indication of increased usage of accounts and inculcation of saving habit among account holders, it said.
Total RuPay cards issued to PMJDY account holders rose to 31.23 crore.
For account opened after August 28, 2018, the free accidental insurance cover on RuPay cards increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while underlining the importance of the scheme, said the journey of PMJDY-led interventions undertaken over a short span of 7 years has in effect, produced both
transformational as well as directional change, thereby making the emerging financial inclusion ecosystem capable of delivering financial services to the last person of the society-the poorest of the poor.