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The total balance in the basic bank accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has crossed the milestone of ₹2 lakh crore
As per the latest data, the total balance of the accounts stood at ₹2,01,598 crore as of April, with 48.70 crore beneficiaries, out of which 27.08 crore are women.
D Janakiram, Director, Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), an arm of the RBI, said, “This marks a very important milestone in the financial inclusion journey through PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) since it was launched in August 2014. The PMJDY has achieved phenomenal success both in terms of new accounts opened and deposits in these accounts.”
The success of PMJDY could be leveraged to extend financial services to the most marginalised sections of society through innovation in credit scoring, incentivising use of digital transactions, linking the credit facility to the economic activities of these accounts, and UPI transaction flows, he added.
“The access to credit through these accounts is the next big step to transforming PM Jan Dhan accounts into PM Jan Dhan Vridhi accounts for the most marginalised sections of society,’‘ Janakiram said.
Long journey
The PMJDY has come a long way since its launch on August 15, 2014, and is now billed as the world’s largest financial inclusion scheme. It took almost five years for the accounts to reach the milestone of ₹1 lakh crore balance in July 2019. “The growth in new accounts as well as average balance continued even during the Covid-19 as about two crore new accounts were opened in the first three months of the pandemic,’‘ said an official of Union Bank of India.
PMGKY
PMJDY has also become the channel for the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, as ₹500 per month is being deposited by the government in the Jan Dhan accounts of 20 crore women as part of the relief package.
The financial year 2022–23 was significant for PMJDY, as ₹50,000 crore (one fourth of the total balance now) was added to the deposits in the year, setting a record.
Under the Jan Dhan scheme, the RuPay card comes with an inbuilt accident insurance cover of ₹1 lakh for up to 90 days after the cardholder carries out a successful financial or non-financial transaction at a merchant establishment, ATM, or e-commerce platform.
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