Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran praised the remarkable success of the Centre's flagship scheme—Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)—on its 10th anniversary and said that it played a significant role in advancing financial inclusion in India.
In an article in The Times of India, Nageswaran said that PMJDY has facilitated the financial exclusion of millions of Indians.
According to Nageswaran, the programme, which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2014, has exceeded expectations with over 53.1 crore beneficiaries and total deposits surpassing Rs 2.3 lakh crore as of August 2024.
Also Read | More than 50 crore accounts, over Rs 2 lakh crore in deposits: Key achievements of PMJDY scheme
Notably, nearly 30 crore of these beneficiaries are women, highlighting the scheme’s impact on empowering women financially, he said.
Nageswaran also pointed out that before PMJDY, achieving high levels of financial inclusion in India would have taken an estimated 47 years through traditional growth processes.
"Based on the bank account data and the relationship with GDP per capita discussed above, one rough estimate is that it would have taken 47 years to achieve 80% of adults with a bank account had India solely relied on traditional growth processes," he said.
Also Read | Jan Dhan completes a decade with strong rural outreach, over 55 percent accounts by women
Citing a research paper, he said the scheme has been credited with safeguarding financial savings, particularly in theft-prone regions, and reducing dependence on high-interest informal loans.
The CEA added that during the COVID-19 pandemic, PMJDY accounts proved invaluable as the Centre used them to transfer benefits directly to the people, facilitating no-touch payments through advanced digital infrastructure.
Also Read | PMJDY integrates poor into economic mainstream, plays key role in development of marginalised: FM
"In a world where instant judgment is more the norm than the exception, commentators pointed out that the PMJDY accounts were mostly zero-balance accounts. These accounts have a combined deposit balance of over Rs 2.3 lakh crore. The usefulness of these accounts proved to be inestimable during Covid," he wrote.
The CEA added that the Centre transferred nearly Rs 8.1 lakh crore directly to beneficiaries' bank accounts during the three Covid-hit financial years.
"In the three financial years (FY20 to FY22), approximately Rs 8.1 lakh crore were directly transferred to beneficiaries' bank accounts. Together with the evolution of digital payment infrastructure, this facilitated no-touch payments during the peak time of the pandemic," he wrote.
Citing a research report released earlier this month, Nageswaran said that the scheme facilitated open banking, adding that areas with more PMJDY accounts saw increased credit growth led by fintech.
He said that it also empowered women by providing them with their bank accounts, potentially boosting national savings rates and encouraging female entrepreneurship through initiatives like Startup India and Stand-Up India.
Nageswaran said that without the "visionary programme," India’s development over the past decade would have been "substantially lower."
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
