10 Years Of Jan Dhan Yojana: A Paramount Govt Scheme Bigger Than US, Russia, Europe! 53 Crore Accounts Opened

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 28th said that the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has been paramount in boosting financial inclusion and giving dignity to crores of people in India. He said this on the scheme's 10th anniversary. Also, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hailed the government scheme and called it a progressive step, taken 10 years ago.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), is currently the biggest financial inclusion initiative in the world. It was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his first Independence Day celebration as the PM of the country, on August 15, 2014, from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

Later, on August 28, 2014, the scheme was launched in the country.

10 years later, on August 28, 2024, during the scheme's tenth anniversary, PM Modi said, "Today, we mark a momentous occasion- #10YearsOfJanDhan. Congratulations to all the beneficiaries and compliments to all those who worked to make this scheme a success."

Modi added through his X handler, "Jan Dhan Yojana has been paramount in boosting financial inclusion and giving dignity to crores of people, especially women, youth, and the marginalized communities."

PM also highlighted a couple of key achievements of Jan Dhan Yojana such as the scheme increased savings, increased access to credit, bridged the gender gap in access to financial services; and ensured positive social impact with a drop in crime rate, reduced alcohol and tobacco consumption.

FM Sitharaman tweeted saying, "A progressive step was taken on this day 10 years ago for financial inclusion. PM Modi launched this initiative to ensure crores of our people who didn't benefit from formal coverage of financial services are brought in to benefit."

She further highlighted that the scheme has achieved over 53 crore accounts with over Rs 2.3 lakh crore in deposits which is the result of this people's movement.

Also, on the website, government data mentioned that there were at least 53.13 crore beneficiaries banked so far under the PMJDY scheme, while the balance in beneficiary accounts was to the tune of Rs 231,235.97 crore. Also, there were about 11.59 lakh Bank Mitras delivering branchless banking services of the scheme in the country.

Of the total, the majority of the Jan Dhan Accounts are opened via public sector banks. About 41.42 crore beneficiaries are registered at PSBs, while 9.89 crore of them are regional rural banks. While private sector banks have only 1.64 crore beneficiaries.

Also, a total of 36.14 crore number of RuPay debit cards are issued to beneficiaries. Of the total, 31.29 crore debit cards are issued by public sector banks.

Furthermore, 26.56 crore women empowered, which is almost entire population of the US. The MyGovIndia tweeted saying. "A remarkable milestone in financial inclusion."

Moreover, about Rs 38 lakh crore in direct benefits have been transferred to Jan Dhan Account. The government X handler added, "A game-changing leap in financial empowerment."

It is also needs to be noted that about 35.37 Crore Jan Dhan Accounts are empowering Rural and Semi-Urban Lives. The government tweeted saying, "That's more than the combined population of Germany, France, and Russia."

Additionally, wealth has grown significantly in every PMJDY account. The government highlighted, from Rs 1,065 in March 2015 to Rs 4,397 in June 2024, there has been an impressive increase in deposit in Jan Dhan Accounts.

Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is the National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, basic savings & deposit accounts, remittance, credit, insurance, and pension in an affordable manner. Under the scheme, a basic savings bank deposit (BSBD) account can be opened in any bank branch or Business Correspondent (Bank Mitra) outlet, by persons not having any other account.