A remarkable decade has been completed on the initiative that was taken on August 28, 2014 as the Pradhan Mantri Jan dhan Yojana. It is one of the most significant financial inclusion that has profoundly transformed the financial landscape of India. This article reflects about the challenges, achievements, the future potential and its contribution done to socio-economic development and financial empowerment.
Source:Adda247
The Genesis of Jan Dhan Yojna
The Pradhan Mantri Jan dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was one of the early initiatives of Modi Government that was launched on 28 August, 2014 after the announcement done on his first independence day address on August 15, 2014. On 15th August, 2014 Modi highlighted that he wants to connect with the poorest citizens of India through this scheme and an account holder under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana will be given a RuPay debit card along with an insurance of rs 1 lakh.
He further added that there is no requirement to maintain any minimum balance in PMJDY accounts and these accounts will be earning interest on deposits like regular accounts. The scheme was mainly designed to address the problem of financial exclusion especially for people living in rural areas which is the major portion of the Indian population. This will help them to ensure access to financial services .
Source:News18
Achievement over the decade:
According to report till August 14 2024, 53.13 crore bank account stand including 35.37 crore accounts in rural and semi urban areas and 17.76 crore accounts in urban areas exceeding a total balance of rupees 2.3 lakh crore. This data proves that PMJDY is a successful initiative which have marked a significant step towards financial status of India.
With a surprise, more than half of PMJDY accounts are in the names of women which also helped to establish gender financial equality.
This scheme has also been instrumental in the implementation of other government schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), and the Atal Pension Yojana(APY). It has also helped to mitigate the economic stress that was caused during crisis and the pandemic.
Source:One India Hindi
Challenges and Criticisms:
The road to success is never easy. Likewise, despite the success of PMJDY, it had faced several challenges. The first and foremost challenge was to manage the account activity. The challenge here lies in keeping these accounts active. According to report as of 2024, nearly 20% of the account are inactive which means that there has been no transaction in over a year in these accounts. Maintenance of account is necessary to be a successful initiative.
Another challenge was a large proportion of PMJDY accounts were having zero balance which means that people had merely opened their accounts without having their active users.
