The flagship financial inclusion scheme of the Centre, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which will be completing a decade on August 15, has 52.99 crore total beneficiaries (account-holders) across the States with total balance in PMJDY accounts at ₹2,28,362 crore, as on July 31, 2024.
The scheme, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2014, now has become the largest financial inclusion scheme in the world. It has largely been women-centric with 29.48 crore women beneficiaries while 35.27 crore of total accounts are from rural and semi-urban branches, as per the latest data. Nearly 36 crore RuPay Debit cards have been issued.
The scheme made a considerable impact so far. “PMJDY has accelerated account ownership in the country and its contribution in onboarding the financially excluded to the mainstream in creating an egalitarian society has been enormous as more than 56 per cent of the PMJDY account holders are women and 67 per cent of the total account holders are from rural and semi urban areas,’‘ Bibekananda Panda, Senior Economist, State Bank of India, told businessline.
“The outstanding deposit of ₹2.28 lakh crore in these PMJDY accounts is a great source of funding for the banks in a prolonged elevated CD ratio scenario,’‘ Panda said.
Next level
While the scheme did make an impact on bringing people in the vortex of formal banking system with no frills accounts, it now needs to be scaled up to offer the next level of benefits to the customers.
According to Prasanna Tantri, Executive Director, Centre for Analytical Finance, Indian School of Business, it has had a ‘huge impact’ on the delivery of welfare benefits directly to the poor. It has also led to the widening of the easy to access banking correspondent network and reduced the dependence on bank networks.
“I hope that the improved access to savings eventually results in improved access to credit, which is a problem even now. However, overall the government deserves credit for implementing the scheme successfully,’‘ Tantri added.
The financial appetite of Jan Dhan accountholders could be an opportunity for banks. “As these customers, being new to the system, have a number of unmet financial requirements, banks have to step out to increase their product penetration among these customers, including offering customised credit and value-added services,” Panda said.
There is also a need for a greater role for the private banks as their contribution to PMJDY accounts has been minimal while public sector banks are driving the scheme. “Going forward, private banks to be proactive in this space in contributing to nation building,’‘ he added.
The average balance in PMJDY accounts is around ₹4,100 and more than 5.5 crore PMJDY accounts are receiving DBT benefits. The accounts come with a RuPay Debit card, insurance and overdraft facilities with certain norms.