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New Delhi : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on September 13, 2017, said that more than 30 crore bank accounts had been opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). Jaitley said when the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana PMJDY was launched in August 2014, only 58% people had their bank accounts and 42% were outside the banking network. He said that the number of zero balance accounts under PMJDY has declined from 76.81% in September 2014 to less than 20% as of now. Jaitley said besides it, more than 22 crore RuPay cards have also been issued to the account holders alongwith an overdraft facility of Rs 5,000.
The Finance Minister was delivering the Keynote Address at the Conclave on Finance Inclusion organized by United Nations (UN) in India in the national capital on September 13. Jaitley said that the present government brought the policy of financial inclusion to the centre stage and launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) scheme on a massive scale in August 2014. He said that the government has tried to exploit the full potential of financial inclusion with the help of banks. He said that this is one area where Public Sector Bank s(PSBs) did better than others, according to a PIB release.
Jaitley said that in addition to Financial Inclusion, the government has taken steps to provide security to the poor via life insurance under the Pradhan Mantra Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and accident insurance through Pradhan Mantra Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY). As on August 7, 2017, total enrollment was 3.46 crore under the PMJJBY and 10.96 crore under PMSBY. In both schemes, close to 40 % of the enrollees are women, he added, according to the PIB release.
Speaking on the results of demonetization, Jaitley said that it has helped in reducing the volume of cash transactions and increase in digitisation, widening of the tax base and more formalization of the economy among others. He said that post demonetization, there is emphasis to reduce overall quantum of cash in the economy.
As regards Aadhar, Jaitley said that it has been an important leap forward for the country as now we are beginning to understand its full potential. He said that 92% of people have Aadhar cards and added he is sure that Aadhar Legislation will stand the test of constitutionality. He said that Aadhar has helped in targeting the subsidies which, in turn, helped in avoiding wastage of resources.
He said after implementation of Aadhar system, government support/subsidy is confined to the vulnerable and those who are entitled for the same. The Finance Minister said that since the financial assistance goes directly into the bank accounts of the deserving people, it has, in turn, helped in more operationalization of PMJDY bank accounts reducing drastically the number of dormant/non-operational accounts.