Deposits up 118 percent over 21 months in India’s Jan Dhan financial inclusion program

Thursday, June 30, 2016

The average deposit per account under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) – a financial inclusion programme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August 2014 – increased 118 per cent from Rs 795 in September 2014 to Rs 1,735 in May 2016, according to IndiaSpend analysis of government data.

PMJDY accounts quadrupled (increased by 308 per cent), from 53 million in September 2014 to 219 million in May 2016, while the proportion of accounts with no money in them – zero-balance accounts, as they are called – declined from 76 per cent in 2014 to 25.7 per cent in 2016.

This indicates that more Indians are being included in the formal financial system, and they are willing to keep their earnings in Jan Dhan accounts, along with payments coming in directly to those accounts from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and subsidy for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Source: Economic Times (link opens in a new window)

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