Jan Dhan completes a decade with strong rural outreach, over 55 percent accounts by women

Finance Minister Sitharaman said the initiate 'transformed the banking and financial landscape', adding that 67% of the accounts have been opened in rural or semi-urban areas, and 55% by women.

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) - world's largest financial inclusion initiative - has completed a successful decade with more than 53.14 crore beneficiaries banked since inception.

Finance Minister Sitharaman called the initiate 'transformed the banking and financial landscape', adding that 67% of the accounts have been opened in rural or semi-urban areas, and 55% by women. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary added through various saturation drives, India has achieved 'near saturation in bank accounts', with continuous pan-India rise in insurance as well as pension coverage.

Here are the top achievements:

Number of Accounts: As of August 2024, more than 53.14 crore PMJDY accounts have been opened, a 3.6-fold increase compared to March 2015 when there were only 15.67 crore accounts.

Deposits Mobilized: Total deposit under PMJDY Accounts stand at Rs 2.31 lakh crore, which has increased about 15 times compared to August 2015.

Rural Outreach: About 66.6% (35.37 crore) of the accounts are held by beneficiaries in rural and semi-urban areas, with women account holders making up around 55.6% (29.56 crore) of the total.

RuPay: Jan Dhan scheme also rolled out 36.14 crore RuPay cards and the number and usage has increased over time.

Digital Transactions: PMJDY also enabled installation of 89.67 lakh PoS/mPoS machines, and introduced payment systems like UPI, which has helped raise total digital transactions from 2,338 crore in FY19 to 16,443 crore in FY24.

Despite its successes, the PMJDY faces challenges, with approximately 8.4 percent of the accounts currently having a zero balance, and around 20 percent of accounts are inactive. Nonetheless, the scheme stands as a milestone in India's journey towards financial inclusion, providing essential banking services to millions.