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Financial inclusion is an important priority of the government. The objective is to ensure the excluded sections, i.e., weaker sections and low income groups, access to various financial services such as a basic savings bank account, need-based credit, remittance facility, insurance and pension. The government has recently launched an effective scheme to promote the cause of financial inclusion—the PMJDY:
Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana
To achieve the objective of financial inclusion by extending financial services to the large hitherto unserved population of the country and to unlock its growth potential, the Pradhan Mantri Jan-DhanYojana (PMJDY) was launched on 28 August 2014. The Yojana envisages—
(i) Universal access to banking facilities with at least one basic banking account for every household,
(ii) Financial literacy, access to credit and insurance.
(iii) The beneficiaries will receive a RuPay Debit Card having inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs1 lakh.
(iv) In addition, there is a life insurance cover of Rs. 30,000 to those who opened their bank accounts for the first time between 15 August 2014 and 26 January 2015 and meet other eligibility conditions of the Yojana.
The Yojana has entered the Guinness World Records for opening most bank accounts during the week starting 23 August, 2014 as part of the financial campaign. As on 28 January 2015, 12.31 crore bank accounts have been opened, of which 7.36 crore are in rural areas and 4.95 crore inurban areas. Under the PMJDY, 67.5 per cent of the accounts as on January 28, 2015 are with zero balance.