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The ambitious financial inclusion plan of the government under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has inched a step closer to achieve financial inclusion for all with 98.4 per cent of households in the country have bank accounts now.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna which was unveiled by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a target of opening 75 million accounts was set by 26 January which was later revised to 100 million.
“10.3 crore (103 million) new accounts have been opened in the last three months under the Jan-Dhan yojana. By now 98.41 per cent of the households are covered under the Jan-Dhan scheme,” said Hasmukh Adhia, Secretary, Department of Financial Services.
Banks have managed to achieve the stiff target of opening 100 milion bank accounts a month before the 26 January deadline.
Adhia said banks had conducted survey of household in which 219 million households, of which 98.4 per cent respondents said they have a bank account. According to the last census, there are 250 million households in the country.
“There are 3 crore to 4 crore (30 million to 40 million) who are effluent sections of the society and declined to take part of the survey,” Adhia said.
Adhia added that RuPay cards have been issued to 79.7 per cent of the accounts. The government is also working on seeding the Aadhaar number with the bank accounts, 33 per cent of the accounts have already been synced with the Aadhaar numbers. At present, it is not mandatory for accounts to be seeded with Aadhaar for DBT benefits. But the banks have been advised to do so to make DBT transfers easy.
However a majority of accounts are still inactive with zero balance and it is a big challenge for the banks is to mobilise savings in these accounts.
“We will be deliberating on how to keep the accounts active. We will have to see how to mobilise savings rate from 30 percent currently to 35 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). We will also have to see how to use these accounts for Direct Benefit Transfer, pension distribution etc,” added Adhia.
In order to deepen financial inclusion now the finance ministry will be getting into an “open challenge mode” for opening accounts under the Jan Dhan scheme.
This will be announced once the 100 per cent target is achieved.
“Under this anyone who does not have an account can approach a bank and an account will be opened immediately,” explained Adhia.
