Nearly 57% of account holders under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana are women, indicating greater financial independence among women.
According to the latest data from the Indian Ministry of Finance, of the total PMJDY accounts amounting to Rs 531.3 crore as on August 14, 55.6% or Rs 295.6 crore were owned by women.
“Jan Dhan Yojana has proven to be a game changer in terms of women empowerment. Nearly 300 million women have been brought into the banking system,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on LinkedIn.
The government’s flagship scheme, the PMJDY scheme, was launched on August 28, 2014 and celebrated its tenth anniversary on Wednesday. It provides a basic bank account to every unbanked adult. This account does not require any balance to be maintained and does not charge any fees.
The account also comes with a free RuPay debit card with inbuilt accidental insurance cover of Rs 200,000 to encourage digital transactions. PMJDY account holders are also eligible for an overdraft facility of up to Rs 10,000 to cover emergency needs.
“By providing universal, affordable and formal financial services – including bank accounts, micro-savings schemes, insurance and loans – to people who previously had no access to banking services, PMJDY has transformed the country’s banking and financial landscape over the last decade,” said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Total deposits in PMJDY bank accounts have increased to Rs 231 crore from Rs 15,670 crore in March 2015. “Deposits have increased by about 15 times as compared to August 2015, and the number of accounts has increased by 3.6 times as of August 2024,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
The average deposit per account is Rs 4,352 as on August 14, 2024, four times higher than that in August 2015. “The increase in average deposit is another indication of increased account usage and inculcation of saving habits among account holders,” the finance ministry said.
In addition, 361.4 million RuPay cards were issued to PMJDY account holders.
