PMJDY is major step towards financial inclusion of economy: Nirmala Sitharaman

Nirmala Sitharaman said that PMJDY is major step towards financial inclusion of economy.

Accolading the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman called it to be “a major step towards financial inclusion of the economy”.

Sitharaman revealed that since its eight years of inception, as high as 46 crore bank accounts with a deposit of Rs. 1.74 lakh crore have been opened reaching 67 per cent of the population in rural and semi-urban areas. Simultaneously, it has 56 per cent of women account holders.

“Continuation of the scheme beyond 2018 saw a marked shift in approach to meet challenges and requirements of emerging financial inclusion landscape in the country. There has been a shift in focus from 'every household' to 'every adult' with added emphasis on the usage of accounts by enhancing Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) flows through these accounts, promoting digital payments through the use of RuPay cards, etc," the Finance Minister started.

Acclaiming its Jan Dhan Adhar Mobile Pipeline, Sitharaman said that it has enabled instant direct transfer (DBT) under various government welfare schemes to eligible beneficiaries.

“The advantage of the architecture created under the financial inclusion ecosystem came handy during the COVID-19 pandemic when it facilitated direct income support to farmers under PM KISAN and transfer of ex-gratia payment to women Jan Dhan account holders under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package in a seamless and time-bound manner,” said the minister.

The Jan Dhan Yojana was launched on August 28, 2014, to help people who don’t have a bank account. It is a National Mission for financial inclusion to ensure access to financial services like basic savings and 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 of the Business Correspondent (Bank Mitra) outlet by persons not having any other account.

A beneficiary of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is entitled to open one saving bank account if he is an unbanked person. Opening this account he/she can use it even without maintaining a minimum balance in PMJDY. He or she shall earn interest based on a deposit in the PMJDY accounts. A Rupay Debit Card is provided to the PMJDY account holder as well. Apart from an accident insurance cover of Rs, 1 lakh, which is enhanced to Rs, 2 lakh for new PMJDY accounts opened after 28-08-2018, an overdraft facility up to Rs. 10, 000 to eligible account holders is available.

PMJDY account holders are eligible for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) scheme.

Under PMJDY, 27 districts of Assam have been declared saturated in 2015. A total of 60, 02, 944 accounts have been opened in 2015. A total of 44, 10, 459 Rupay Cards have been issued under the scheme till 31st October 2015.

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