As suggested by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in The Problem of The Rupee, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana strives to attain inclusive Economic Development, so that political freedom gets its due meaning. The concept of Antyoday propounded by Deendayal Upadhyay ji also suggests the same. This was said by Shri Sudhakar Atre, Faculty at Bank of India Training Centre, addressing a webinar organized on the occasion of the 7th anniversary of the launch of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. The webinar was organized on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, by Press Information Bureau, Mumbai.
Shri Atre further said that a record number of bank accounts were opened under the scheme. “Bank accounts are a pre-requisite for Direct Benefit Transfer and opening of accounts made DBT possible. Such a large number of accounts could be opened due to the dedication of bank employees at grassroot level. Moreover, Regional Rural Banks performed even better than parent commercial banks, which also reduced the scourge of private money lending”.
Shri Atre informed that the qualitative impact of the scheme lies in having been able to bring 43 crore people in the age group of 18-80, into the ambit of formal banking. “Public sector banks played a crucial role by contributing 91 percent of the above achievement. Private sector banks contributed the remaining 9 percent. This also shows the scope for improvement among private sector banks.”
Addressing the webinar, Shri D. B. Deshmukh who retired as AGM in the banking sector informed that PMJDY accounts have tripled during the last 6 years. “Today, we have 43.04 crore accounts as compared to 14.72 crore accounts in 2015. They have total savings of more than Rs. 1,46,230 crore.”
He said that PMJDY accounts have seen a huge rise in digital transactions. “31 crore debit cards have been issued under the scheme. 55 percent of account holders under the scheme are women. The scheme has highly helped Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), as 8 crore beneficiaries are receiving money in PMJDY accounts. The overdraft facility, which was earlier limited to persons who 60 years of age, has now been extended to persons who are less than 65 years old.”
Shri Ashok Chavan, Chief Manager, RDD (Retd.) said that PMJDY provides affordable banking services to 55%-60% of the population who are outside the financial mainstream. Zero balance account, insurance cover and such other measures have brought around 60 crore population to the banking sector, he added.
M. A. Kabra, General Manager (Agriculture and Financial Inclusion), Bank of Maharashtra and Convener, Stale Level Banking committee (Maharashtra) called PMJDY a National Mission to ensure basic financial inclusion in an affordable manner.
Smt. Dhanalakshmi P moderated the webinar while Shri Rahul Tidke gave a Vote of Thanks.
