The flagship scheme of Narendra Modi government, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), completed 6 years on August 28, 2020. In the past years, 40.35 crore beneficiaries have been banked under the scheme with total deposits amount to ₹1.31 lakh crores.
A majority of the beneficiaries are women (55.2%) and 63.6% of the total beneficiaries belong to rural areas.
About 8 crore PMJDY accounts receive Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) from the government under various schemes.
Speaking on the 6th anniversary of PMJDY, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said “The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has been the foundation stone for the Modi government’s people-centric economic initiatives. Whether it is direct benefit transfers, COVID-19 financial assistance, PM-KISAN, increased wages under MGNREGA, life and health insurance cover, the first step was to provide every adult with a bank account, which PMJDY has nearly completed.”
The government had credited ₹30,705 crores in women PMJDY accounts during April-June 2020 under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.
Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur said “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, PMJDY has brought the unbanked into the banking system, expanded the financial architecture of India and brought financial inclusion to over 40 crore account holders. A majority of the beneficiaries are women and most of the accounts are from rural India. In today’s COVID19 times, we have witnessed the remarkable swiftness and seamlessness with which DBTs have empowered and provided financial security to the vulnerable sections of society. An important aspect is that DBTs via PM Jan Dhan accounts have ensured every rupee reaches its intended beneficiary and prevented systemic leakage.”
The PMJDY was launched in the year 2014 to ensure access to various financial services like having a bank account, access to need based credit, remittances facility, direct benefit transfer of subsidies and scholarships, insurance and pension to weaker sections and low income groups.
Initially, the PMJDY sought to ensure that every household in rural and urban areas had one person with a bank account. Now it is focusing on providing bank accounts to every unbanked adult.