Marking the seventh year of the central government’s ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana,’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday, lauded the scheme’s success in paving the way towards financial inclusion for countless Indians, as the country plunges headfirst into the digital era.
“Today we mark seven years of #PMJanDhan, an initiative that has forever transformed India’s development trajectory. It has ensured financial inclusion and a life of dignity as well as empowerment for countless Indians. Jan Dhan Yojana has also helped further transparency,” the prime minister tweeted.
Those sentiments were echoed in equal measure by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who also took to Twitter to call specific attention to the manner in which the scheme has empowered India’s women and those in its hinterland.
Since its inception, the scheme has facilitated the creation of 43.04 crore accounts, 55.47 per cent of which are held by women. 66.69 per cent of these accounts belong to Indians living in rural and semi-urban areas. Total deposits, as of August 18, 2021, stood at Rs 1.46 lakh crore.
Criticism around the Centre’s policy-related proclivities will continue to exist and ought to in a thriving democracy, but, as far as Jan Dhan goes, the numbers tell of a resounding success.
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions that followed have caused untold distress to millions of Indians but the crores doled out as relief payments under the PM Garib Kalyan package would not have been possible if it were not for the concerted efforts in expanding the Jan Dhan scheme. The Centre’s unreserved conviction to digitise India via the JAM trinity has already been vindicated in some measure in this regard.
When the flagship scheme was launched in 2014, there was, and perhaps with good reason, some trepidation around whether it could achieve the lofty ambitions set by the government. The Centre had set a target of opening 7.5 crore accounts by January 2020.
But by the first year alone, 17.90 crore accounts had been opened and although there was initial hesitancy to use these accounts for many who were making their first forays into the financial systems, transactions have continued to increase in the last seven years, signifying growing comfort and familiarity.
It would be remiss now to avoid noting that, according to a research report by ACI Worldwide, India in 2020 overtook China to register the most countrywide digital payments at 25 billion. The report also estimated that by 2025, digital payments would account for over 70 per cent of all payments (by volume) in the country.
That payment boom is a direct result of the Centre’s decision to make financial inclusion a national imperative. While there continues to be ample room for improvement – an EPW research paper found that many of these accounts under Jan Dhan are zero-balance accounts – the scheme itself has already impacted the lives of millions of Indians and, in the process, carved out a means by which the nation can tackle the endemic problems of poverty and inequity
