PMJDY was announced by Prime Minister Modi in his Independence Day address on 15th August 2014. PMJDY is National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner.
The Finance Ministry said that as on August 19 2020, the number of total PMJDY accounts stand at 40.35 crore. Rural PMJDY accounts stand at 63.6 percent while women PMJDY accounts stand at 55.2 percent. During first year of scheme 17.90 crore PMJDY accounts were opened.
“Ministry of Finance is committed to provide financial inclusiveness and support to the marginalized and hitherto socio-economically neglected classes. Financial Inclusion is a national priority of the Government as it is an enabler for inclusive growth. It is important as it provides an avenue to the poor for bringing their savings into the formal financial system, an avenue to remit money to their families in villages besides taking them out of the clutches of the usurious money lenders. A key initiative towards this commitment is the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY), which is one of the biggest financial inclusion initiatives in the world,” an official release said.
On the 6th Anniversary of PMJDY, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman reiterated the importance of this Scheme “The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has been the foundation stone for the Modi government’s people-centric economic initiatives. Whether it is direct benefit transfers, COVID-19 financial assistance, PM-KISAN, increased wages under MGNREGA, life and health insurance cover, the first step was to provide every adult with a bank account, which PMJDY has nearly completed.” she said.
