7 years of Jan Dhan Yojana and the way it’s altering lives of the poor: 43.04 crore beneficiaries with Rs. 146,230.71 cr in deposits

There was a time when having a checking account was thought of a luxurious by the poor and marginalized. Since independence, a big part of residents of India was not in a position to avail the advantages of a checking account. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi took cost in 2014, one of the vital initiatives he introduced was Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
The goal of the scheme was to carry the poor and marginalized sections of the society underneath the banking system. Since its launch, the federal government of India has taken quite a few steps to enhance the connectivity of the banking system to each nook of the nation.
जब हमारी सरकार आई तो हमने देखा कि देश की करोड़ों बहनें ऐसी थीं जिनके पास बैंक खाता तक नहीं था, जो बैंकिंग सिस्टम से कोसों दूर थीं।इसलिए हमने सबसे पहले जनधन खाते खोलने का बहुत बड़ा अभियान शुरू किया: PM @narendramodi— PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 12, 2021
The scheme was introduced by PM Modi on August 15, 2014, throughout his Independence Day handle. He had stated, “I have come here with a pledge to launch a scheme on this festival of Freedom. It will be called Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana. I wish to connect the poorest citizens of the country with the facility of bank accounts through this scheme. There are millions of families who have mobile phones but no bank accounts. We have to change this scenario. Economic resources of the country should be utilized for the well-being of the poor. The change will commence from this point. This scheme will open the window. Therefore, an account holder under `Pradhanmantri Jan-Dhan Yojana` will be given a debit card. An insurance of One Lakh Rupees will be guaranteed with that debit card for each poor family, so that such families are covered with the insurance of One Lakh Rupees in case of any crisis in their lives.”

The scheme completes seven years of its profitable run on August 28, 2021. As per the stats accessible on PMJDY’s web site, 43.04 crore beneficiaries have been related to the banking system underneath this scheme. A complete of Rs. 146,230.71 crores are at present deposited in these accounts. To guarantee everybody will get easy accessibility to the banking system, the government-appointed Bank Mitras in sub-service areas. Stats recommend that round 1.26 such Bank Mitras are offering branchless banking companies within the sub-service areas.
Screenshot from PMJDY web site displaying the progress of accounts opened underneath the scheme.
The stats recommend that 86.3% of the accounts opened underneath the scheme are energetic. During the interval of August 2015 to August 2020, the variety of accounts underneath the scheme noticed an enormous improve of two.3 occasions within the variety of accounts and a 5.7 occasions improve within the quantity deposited in these accounts. Reports say that, on common, every account underneath the Jan Dhan scheme has a mean stability of Rs.3,239/- which is 2.5 occasions increased in comparison with August 2015.
Notably, there isn’t a minimal stability required underneath this scheme. That means the account holders aren’t sure to maintain cash within the financial institution, however they’ve determined to remain related to the banking system, which is a giant achievement for the central authorities. Also, to advertise cashless banking underneath the scheme, the banks have issued over 31 crore RuPay playing cards. On the primary anniversary of the scheme, PM Modi informed the nation that the accounts underneath the scheme noticed deposits price Rs.22,000 crores.

Jan Dhan Yojana’s position in ladies empowerment
According to a current report printed by Women’s World Banking and Bank of Baroda titled “The Power of Jan Dhan: Making Finance Work for Women in India”, [PDF] 55% (23.76 crores out of 43.04) of PMJDY accounts are owned by ladies making them a majority within the PMJDY portfolio. As the account requires minimal paperwork and the banks are offering further assist to open these accounts, PMJDY has proactively supplied ladies with financial institution accounts by bridging the gaps created by the problems equivalent to illiteracy which was a standard problem amongst low-income segments of the society, whereas opening a checking account. Reports recommend that the typical stability maintained by ladies in Jan Dhan accounts is 30% extra in comparison with accounts owned by males.
On August 12, whereas addressing ladies beneficiaries underneath Atmanirbhar Nari Shakti Samvad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, when the BJP authorities got here into energy in 2014, they seen that crores of ladies didn’t have financial institution accounts. “Today, there are more than 42 crores Jan Dhan accounts in the country, and about 55 per cent of these accounts belong to our mothers and sisters. Thousands of crores of rupees are deposited in these accounts. Instead of putting their savings in the kitchen boxes as was the norm earlier, the money is now being deposited in the bank accounts,” he stated.
Under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna, ladies account holders of Jan Dhan accounts acquired Rs.500 for 3 months. Around 20 crore ladies had been benefitted from the scheme.
Role of Jan Dhan accounts in controlling corruption
The scheme has performed an important position in stopping corruption on the grassroots stage. As the scheme has allowed the federal government to straight switch advantages to the beneficiaries underneath totally different welfare schemes, it has eradicated the necessity for middlemen. Under schemes equivalent to Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), or Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency Bank (MUDRA) scheme, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) and Stand-Up India (SUPI) and several other others, the federal government transfers funds to the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). Under the PMJDY, there was a perpetual rise within the variety of beneficiaries of various insurance coverage schemes. In a tweet Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad stated that Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna (PMSBY) has added 23.66 crores, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojna (PMJJBY) 10.53 crore and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) added 3.13 crore beneficiaries.
PM @narendramodi‘s imaginative and prescient is to offer monetary safety to residents. There has been a perpetual rise within the variety of beneficiaries of the insurance coverage schemes. PMSBY has added 23.66 cr, PMJJBY 10.53 cr & APY has added 3.13 cr beneficiaries. pic.twitter.com/7THTN4V8Et— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) August 23, 2021
The authorities has taken extra steps to offer extra advantages underneath the scheme, such because it has elevated the accident insurance coverage cowl from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.2 lakh. The overdraft restrict of such banks has been elevated from Rs.5,000 to Rs.10,000. The age restrict for the accounts has additionally been elevated from 60 years to 65 years. To guarantee extra persons are related to the scheme, the federal government has shifted the main focus from “one account per household” to “one account per adult”.