Lok Sabha Question No. 11 (STARRED), answered on 2024-11-25
Subject: Objectives of PM Jan Dhan Yojana
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Shri Mohite Patil Dhairyasheel Rajsinh, Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE

## DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *11

ANSWERED ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2024 / AGRAHAYANA 4, 1946 (SAKA)

## Objectives of PM Jan Dhan Yojana

## *11. Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad:

## Shri Mohite Patil Dhairyasheel Rajsinh:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- a)  the  main  objectives  of  the  Pradhan  Mantri  Jan  Dhan  Yojana  and  the  way  by  which  it  aims  at promoting  financial  inclusion  among  underserved  communities  along  with  the  details  of  accounts opened under the PMJDY since its inception in the State of Maharashtra;
2. (b) whether the Government has assessed the operational accounts under PMJDY and if so, the details thereof;
3. (c) whether there is constant decline in operational accounts and if so, the corrective steps taken by the Government in this regard;
4. (d)  the  percentage  of  PMJDY  accounts  held  by  women  and  the  manner  in  which  the  scheme  has contributed to financial inclusion and empowerment of women in rural areas;
5. (e) the campaigns or outreach efforts undertaken by the Government to increase awareness of PMJDY among underserved communities; and
6. (f) the efforts made by the Government to increase the number of branches of Public Sector Banks in rural areas to make PMJDY more successful?

## ANSWER

## FINANCE MINISTER

(Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman)

(a) to (f):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## 11 th  POSITION

## STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.  *11  ANSWERED  ON  25 th   NOVEMBER,  2024  BY  PROF.  VARSHA  EKNATH GAIKWAD  &  SHRI  MOHITE  PATIL  DHAIRYASHEEL  RAJSINH  REGARDING 'OBJECTIVES OF PM JAN DHAN YOJANA'

(a) The Government initiated the National Mission for Financial Inclusion (NMFI), namely, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) in August, 2014 to provide universal banking services for every unbanked  household.  The  guiding  principles  of  PMJDY  are  banking  the  unbanked,  securing  the unsecured, funding the unfunded and serving unserved and underserved areas.

In order to give impetus to financial inclusion initiatives of the Government, PMJDY was extended beyond 14.08.2018 with the focus on opening of accounts shifting from 'every household' to 'every unbanked adult'. The scheme was made more attractive with upward revision in: -

(i) OD limit from Rs.5,000 to Rs.10,000; and

(ii) accident insurance cover on RuPay card holders from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.2 lakh.

PMJDY has been successful in increasing banking penetration and to promote financial inclusion across the country. This is evident from the fact that a total of 53.92 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been opened till 30.10.2024 under PMJDY. Further, a total of 3.60 crore accounts have been opened under PMJDY in the state of Maharashtra since its inception.

(b) & (c) As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, a savings as well as a current account should be treated as inoperative/ dormant, if there are no customer induced transactions in the account for over a  period  of  two  years.  Banks  continuously  make  concerted  efforts  to  monitor  the  percentage  of operative accounts and the progress is being regularly monitored by the Government. As a result, there has been an increase in  the percentage of operative PMJDY accounts from 60.38% (March'17) to 79.13% (October'24).

(d) & (e) Out of the total Jan Dhan accounts opened, 55.7% accounts have been opened by women at country level. Further, out of the total accounts opened by women, approximately 67% accounts have been opened in rural and semi-urban areas which indicates that primarily women of these areas have availed  the  benefits  of  the  Scheme  and  have  become  part  of  the  financial  mainstream.  Banks  also organise awareness camps at regular intervals starting from the ground level to inculcate good banking habits, including the benefits of keeping the account active / operative.

(f)      Government continuously monitors the availability of banking outlets (bank branch / business correspondent / Indian Post Payments Bank (IPPB) branch) for providing banking services within 5 km of all inhabited villages. As on 31.10.2024, of the 6,01,328 mapped inhabited villages, 99.88% villages are covered by a banking outlet through 1.76 lakh Branches, 12.63 lakh BCs, and 1.65 lakh IPPBs.

Further,  as  per  the  extant  guidelines  of  RBI  dated  18.5.2017,  permission  has  been  granted  to domestic Scheduled Commercial Banks (excluding Regional Rural Banks), to open banking outlets at any place in the country, without seeking prior approval of RBI in each case. This is subject to at least 25 percent of the total number of banking outlets opened during a financial year being in unbanked rural centres i.e. centres having population less than 10,000 (Tier 5 and Tier 6 centres).

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