Driving global financial inclusion on the back of Centre’s flagship Jan Dhan programme, India with 2.12 billion eligible bank accounts (including 1.64 billion bank accounts) has pipped its Asian counterpart, China, to house the highest number of bank account holders in the world. According to the World Bank’s Global Findex Database, China with access to formal financial services to its 80% adult population has over 1.2 billion bank account holders.
The Jan Dhan account holders in India that have swelled to 531.4 million in the last ten years account for a whopping Rs 2.3 lakh crore deposits, a surge that has led to issuance of over 360 million free-of-cost RuPay cards to the account holders. The Union government has also announced to add another 30 million new accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) during the current fiscal. As per RBI data around 33 million new accounts were opened in FY24, 35.9 million in FY23 and 28.6 million in FY22.
As per Union finance ministry March 2024 data, out of 169.66 crore CASA bank accounts 147.63 crore accounts (87%) are seeded with Aadhaar. “The success of the Jan Dhan Yojana (JDY) has two parts to it. Today, over 53 crore people who never imagined they would enter a bank have bank accounts,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on professional networking platform LinkedIn to celebrate 10 years of Jan Dhan Yojana on Wednesday.
A glimpse of the success of Jan Dhan Yojana, presented creatively in this thread. #10YearsOfJanDhan https://t.co/ykndIcpSo3
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 28, 2024
As per the The Global Findex Database 2021 data, of the estimated over 1.4 billion population in India, only 230 million people are currently said to be ‘unbanked’. The new banking revolution in India has not just helped in economic inclusion of ‘unbanked’ but has also helped in formalisation of the parallel financial ecosystem.
PM Modi while highlighting key digital economic initiatives said that over 65% of the total bank accounts opened under the JDY were either in rural or semi-urban areas, “taking the movement of financial inclusion outside the metros.” According to PM Modi, the Union government has transferred about Rs 39 lakh crore to the beneficiaries through direct transfer in the JD accounts.
Also while applauding the new digital financial apparatus in the country PM Modi said that the financial inclusion initiative has become a vital pillar of the JAM Trinity- Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile. “The landmark contribution of this trinity was to eliminate the scourge of middlemen and touts…” PM Modi said that the trinity has ensured a digital payments revolution in India. “India’s digital payments success story is noted world over. Over 40% of real time digital payments in the world happen in India!” PM Modi noted.
As per The Global Findex Database about 865 million account owners in developing economies opened their first financial institution account for the purpose of receiving money from the government. This has helped households directly and also helps build digital payment systems. As per Global Findex Database findings, “At a time of tighter budget constraints, digital payments can help reduce tax avoidance and evasion, broadening the tax base.”
Pledging the Centre’s continuous support for the marginalised and economically backward sections through financial inclusion interventions, Union minister for finance Nirmala Sitharaman, said, “Universal and affordable access to formal banking services is essential for achieving financial inclusion and empowerment. It integrates the poor into the economic mainstream and plays a crucial role in the development of marginalised communities.”
The programme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 28, 2014, looks to ensure comprehensive financial inclusion.
