Finance
Union Home Minister Amit Shah praised the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana’s (PMJDY) socioeconomic benefits on Thursday, attributing the idea for the biggest banking program in history to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Exactly 11 years ago today, for the financial inclusion of the poor, women, farmers, and deprived sections, Modi ji launched the world’s largest banking initiative in history, the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana’,” said HM Shah on the anniversary of the scheme.
He said, in a post on X, “Through #11YearsOfJanDhan, a historic effort was made to connect a large section of the country to banking facilities, which had been deprived of it for decades.”
According to HM Shah, approximately 56 crore Jan Dhan beneficiaries—nearly 56% of them are women—are currently directly benefited by a number of government programs, including banking, insurance, and pensions, and they are working to make India a developed and independent nation.
Prior to this, Prime Minister Modi claimed that the program had improved people’s dignity and given them the ability to shape their own future.
He took to his social media platform, X and said, “When the last mile is financially connected, the entire nation moves forward together. That is exactly what the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana achieved. It enhanced dignity and gave people the power to script their own destiny. 11YearsOfJanDhan.”
According to a government factsheet, over 67 per cent of the PMJDY accounts are located in rural or semi-urban areas, while 56 per cent of the accounts were opened by women.
“The PMJDY has been one of the major channels for delivering benefits under various schemes using Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), providing credit facilities, social security, and enhancing savings and investments,” Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
Additionally, 38 crore RuPay cards have been issued under the program, which significantly contributed to the rise in digital transactions to 22,198 crore in 2024–2025.
According to a government announcement, the number of RuPay card transactions at PoS and e-commerce has grown from 67 crore in FY 2017–18 to 93.85 crore in FY 2024–25.
Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary stated that saturation drives are being carried out across the country in accordance with PM Modi’s goal of every household having a bank account and every adult having insurance and pension coverage.
The campaigns will continue until September 30 in an effort to increase PMJDY’s reach.
“At least one camp will be held in each of the 2.7 lakh gram panchayats in the country where eligible persons can open PMJDY accounts, enrol under Jansuraksha schemes, and also do their re-KYC and update nominations in their bank accounts,” the minister said.
“We have achieved near saturation in bank accounts, and there has been a continuous increase in insurance and pension coverage across the country,” he added.
Notably, the number of accounts has tripled, the total deposits have expanded by about 12 times, and the total deposit balances under PMJDY accounts have reached Rs 2,67,756 crore.
Source: IANS
