Context:
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) – National Mission for Financial Inclusion, completed its nine years of successful implementation recently.
Financial inclusion is defined as the process of ensuring access to financial services and timely and adequate credit where needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low-income groups at an affordable cost.
About PMJDY:
- Aim – To ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner.
- Objectives –
- Ensure access of financial products & services at an affordable cost
- Use of technology to lower cost & widen reach
- Features –
- Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS)
- Inter-operability through RuPay debit card
- Focus shifted from ‘Every Household’ to Every Unbanked Adult’
- No requirement of any minimum balance
- An overdraft facility of ₹10,000 to every eligible adult
- RuPay Card Insurance
- Beneficial Areas – Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), PM-KISAN, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), Life and health insurance, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Atal Pension Yojana (APY) etc.
- Achievements –
- More than 50% of Jan-Dhan account holders are women
- Around two-thirds of Jan Dhan accounts are in rural and semi-urban areas
- Deposits have increased about 13 times
- Jan Dhan Darshak App (JDD App) – To locate banking touch points such as bank branches, ATMs, Banking Correspondents (BCs), Indian Post Payment Banks etc.
An overdraft allows individuals to withdraw money from their bank account even if they have an insufficient balance that are used for covering immediate, short-term expenses.
Source: PIB
Do you Know?
Guinness World Records has officially recognized the achievement of the Department of Financial Services, Government of India, for opening the “Highest number of bank accounts in a single week as part of the Financial Inclusion Campaign,” with a total of 18,096,130 accounts.
Previous Year Question
‘Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana’ has been launched for
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2015 Prelims]
(a) providing housing loan to poor people at cheaper interest rates
(b) promoting women’s Self-Help Groups in backward areas
(c) promoting financial inclusion in the country
(d) providing financial help to the marginalized communities
Answer: (c)
