PM hails 12 years of Jan Dhan Yojana, says impact unparalleled

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which completed 12 years on Friday, has had an unparalleled impact and transformative outcomes. Launched by Modi as one of his very first programmes on August 28, 2014, the PMJDY has witnessed a transformation in India’s financial landscape, and the scheme has become a torchbearer for financial inclusion worldwide. As the world’s largest financial inclusion initiative, PMJDY continues to redefine access to banking for all Indians.

The PMJDY ensures that every unbanked adult has access to a basic bank account with no minimum balance requirement and no maintenance charges. Each account comes with a free RuPay debit card, offering an accident insurance cover of `2 lakh, encouraging digital transactions and financial security.

Account holders are also eligible for an overdraft facility of up to `10,000, providing a safety net during emergencies. “Unprecedented scale and transformative outcomes! Jan Dhan Yojana has had an unparalleled impact,” Modi wrote on social media, referring to a post of MyGov India, the Government of India’s innovative citizen engagement platform.

MyGov India said in a series of social media posts that there was a time when access to formal banking depended on where someone lives, financial standing or simply how far the person concerned was from a bank.

Today, India’s banking landscape tells a different story, with crores of Jan Dhan accounts, wider rural access, greater participation by women and banking reaching the last mile, it said.

“A bank account is more than a number. It is a financial identity. From 14.7 crore Jan Dhan accounts in 2015 to 59 crore in 2026, India has expanded formal banking access at an unprecedented scale, bringing millions into the financial system and enabling greater participation in the formal economy,” MyGov India said.

Financial inclusion becomes meaningful when women are part of the journey. Today, nearly 33 crore women hold Jan Dhan accounts, representing 56 per cent of all Jan Dhan account holders. This wider access to formal banking is helping more women participate in the financial system, strengthening household and community-level financial inclusion.

With 46 crore Jan Dhan accounts held across rural and semi-urban India, financial inclusion is reaching communities beyond major cities. These represent 78 per cent of all Jan Dhan accounts, reflecting a banking network reaching deeper across India.