9 years of PM's Jan Dhan scheme: Government says total deposits have reached Rs 2.03 lakh crore

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), a government scheme aimed at ensuring easy access to banking services for all citizens, will complete nine years on August 28, 2023. Launched on August 28, 2014, the Jan Dhan scheme has crossed a host of milestones already. 

The Jan Dhan scheme has achieved significant success over the past years, with the total number of accounts growing to 50.09 crore from 14.72 crore in March 2015, said Vivek Joshi, the Secretary of the Department of Financial Services (DFS) under the Ministry of Finance, citing data till August 16, 2023. 

The secretary said that the value of total deposits under the PMJDY scheme has reached Rs 2.03 lakh crore, from Rs 15,670 crore in March 2015, he said. 

Joshi also highlighted that the average deposit has increased to Rs 4,063 per Jan Dhan account from Rs 1,065 in March 2015. 

The official, however, pointed out that the number of the zero-balance Jan Dhan accounts has fallen significantly, from 58 per cent to 8 per cent of total accounts. 

His remarks come days after the Jan Dhan scheme crossed the milestone of 50 crore accounts, with 67 per cent of them opened in the rural and semi-urban areas of the country. 

What is the PM Jan Dhan scheme?

The Union government’s Jan Dhan scheme is a national mission for financial inclusion to ensure access to financial services, such as banking, savings and deposit accounts, remittance, credit, insurance and pension, in an affordable manner.

The primary objective of the PMJDY scheme is to ensure access to financial products and services at an affordable cost, with the use of technology to lower costs and widen its reach. 

The scheme operates on three basic tenets: banking the unbanked, securing the unsecured, and funding the unfunded. 

The PM Jan Dhan scheme has been the foundation stone for people-centric economic initiatives, including direct benefit transfers, the dissemination of financial assistance to battle COVID-19, and the PM Kisan drive.