New Delhi: Ministry of Finance is committed to provide financial inclusiveness and support to the marginalized and hitherto socio-economically neglected classes. Financial Inclusion is a national priority of the Government as it is an enabler for inclusive growth. It is important as it provides an avenue to the poor for bringing their savings into the formal financial system, an avenue to remit money to their families in villages besides taking them out of the clutches of the usurious money lenders. A key initiative towards this commitment is the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY), which is one of the biggest financial inclusion initiatives in the world.
PMJDY was announced by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address on 15th August 2014. While launching the programme on 28th August, the Prime Minister had described the occasion as a festival to celebrate the liberation of the poor from a vicious cycle.
On the 6th Anniversary of PMJDY, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs , Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman reiterated the importance of this Scheme “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.” she said
Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Shri Anurag thakur also expressed his thoughts for PMJDY on this occasion. He 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.”
As we complete 6 years of successful implementation of this Scheme, we take a look at the major aspects and achievements of this Scheme so far.
Background
Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner.
1. Objectives:
- Ensure access of financial products & services at an affordable cost
- Use of technology to lower cost & widen reach
2. Basic tenets of the scheme
- Banking the unbanked – Opening of basic savings bank deposit (BSBD) account with minimal paperwork, relaxed KYC, e-KYC, account opening in camp mode, zero balance & zero charges
- Securing the unsecured – Issuance of Indigenous Debit cards for cash withdrawals & payments at merchant locations, with free accident insurance coverage of Rs. 2 lakh
- Funding the unfunded – Other financial products like micro-insurance, overdraft for consumption, micro-pension & micro-credit
3. Initial Features
The scheme was launched based upon the following 6 pillars:
- Universal access to banking services – Branch and BC
- Basic savings bank accounts with overdraft facility of Rs. 10,000/- to every household
- Financial Literacy Program– Promoting savings, use of ATMs, getting ready for credit, availing insurance and pensions, using basic mobile phones for banking
- Creation of Credit Guarantee Fund – To provide banks some guarantee against defaults
- Insurance – Accident cover up to Rs. 1,00,000 and life cover of Rs. 30,000 on account opened between 15 Aug 2014 to 31 January 2015
- Pension scheme for Unorganized sector
4. Important approach adopted in PMJDY based on past experience:
- Accounts opened are online accounts in core banking system of banks, in place of earlier method of offline accounts opening with technology lock-in with the vendor
- Inter-operability through RuPay debit card or Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS)
- Fixed-point Business Correspondents
- Simplified KYC / e-KYC in place of cumbersome KYC formalities
5. Extension of PMJDY with New features – The Government decided to extend the comprehensive PMJDY program beyond 28.8.2018 with some modifications
- Focus shift from ‘Every Household’ to Every Unbanked Adult’
- RuPay Card Insurance – Free accidental insurance cover on RuPay cards increased from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakh for PMJDY accounts opened after 28.8.2018.
- Enhancement in overdraft facilities –
- OD limit doubled from Rs 5,000/- to Rs 10,000/-; OD upto Rs 2,000/- (without conditions).
- Increase in upper age limit for OD from 60 to 65 years
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