PMJDY was launched by PM Narendra Modi on August 15, 2014 during his Independence day address. and was implemented in August 28.
The scheme was introduced to ensure people have
access to financial services like banking, remittance, credit, insurance, pension, etc.
The number of total PMJDY accounts is 43.04 crore as of August 18, this year out which which 55.4% account holders were women, 66.6% holders from rural and semi urban areas, according to Finance Ministry.
85.6 per cent accounts out of total are operative with an average deposit per account is Rs 3,398, as per the minsirty statement.
Increase in average deposit spells increased usage of accounts and in turn better saving habits.
Total RuPay cards issued to PMJDY account holders rose to 31.23 crore. For account opened after August 28, 2018, the free accidental insurance cover on RuPay cards increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.
Appreciating the untiring efforts of all those who have worked to make PMJDY a success, he said, their efforts have ensured the people of India lead a better quality of life.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while underlining the importance of the scheme, said the journey of PMJDY led interventions undertaken over a short span of 7 years has in effect, produced both transformational as well as directional change, thereby making the emerging financial inclusion ecosystem capable of delivering financial services to the last person of the society-the poorest of the poor.
“The underlying pillars of PMJDY, namely, Banking the Unbanked, Securing the Unsecured and Funding the Unfunded has made it possible to adopt multi-stakeholders’ collaborative approach while leveraging technology for serving the unserved and underserved areas as well,” she said.
Under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana announced on March 26, 2020, an amount of Rs 500 per month for three months (April’20 to June’20) was credited to the accounts of PMJDY women account holders, the finance ministry said.
A total of Rs 30,945 crore has been credited in accounts of women PMJDY account holders during Covid lockdown as an income support measure.
About 5 crore PMJDY accountholders receive direct benefit transfer (DBT) from the Government under various schemes, the ministry statement added.
To ensure that the eligible beneficiaries receive their DBT in time, the government takes an active role in identification of avoidable reasons for DBT failures in consultation with DBT Mission, NPCI, banks and various other ministries, it said.
With close monitoring in this regard through regular video conferencing with banks and NPCI, the share of DBT failures due to avoidable reasons as a percentage of total DBT failures has decreased from 13.5 per cent (FY 19-20) to 5.7 per cent (FY 20-21), it noted.
On the road ahead, the finance ministry said, eligible PMJDY account holders will be sought to be covered under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY).
Banks have already been communicated about the same, it said.
The government is also focussed on promotion of digital payments including RuPay debit card usage amongst PMJDY account holders through creation of acceptance infrastructure across India, it said.
Another focus area is improving access of PMJDY account holders to micro-credit and micro investment such as flexi-recurring deposit etc, it said.
With inputs from PTI
