Defying all the claims of zero balance, the average deposit in the accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) has jumped by 145 percent. The total deposit in the 34 crore accounts opened under Jan Dhan Yojna has crossed 90,000 crore rupees. To give an estimate, this is more than the GDP of Goa or 1 percent of total bank deposits in the country. Almost 53 percent account holders of flagship financial inclusion schemes are women. The savings account opened under the scheme is inculcating saving behavior among poor people of the country and provides social security. The average deposit in a Jan Dhan account was 1,065 rupees on March 2015 and this has increased to 2,600 rupees in less than four years.
As of 26th December 2018
The number of inoperative accounts has declined by 20 percent. The critics of the scheme have claimed that majority of accounts opened under Jan Dhan Yojna are inoperative. They also claimed that the deposits are low. However, now we have evidence that the number of accounts opened under Jan Dhan Yojna increased the savings of poor households and total deposits are rising. The government also issued 24 crore Rupay debit cards under the scheme and increased the inbuilt insurance coverage from the existing 1 lakh rupees to 2 lakh rupees.
The financial inclusion programme of the Government of India was launched on August 15, 2014, and now has become a vehicle for many government schemes with 34 crore beneficiaries. The bank accounts are important for implementing low-cost insurance schemes under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) at a large scale. These schemes did not reach out to uninsured person due to unawareness but now the government is making people aware of social security schemes during Gram Swarajya Abhiyan.
The Modi government has launched many schemes like Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Saubhagya, Atal Pension Yojana, Ujala scheme, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and Mission Indradhanush to provide social security to people on the lower spectrum of social strata. This is probably the reason behind the success of the party in state after state. The government aims to cover the entire population under social security benefit schemes to make the country a true welfare state as promised in the constitution. The previous governments despite all their lip service about social security were not able to make the country a welfare state with basic services.
According to analysts, the social security benefits played crucial roles in bringing the marginalized caste in BJP’s vote bank. These castes have traditionally voted parties like SP and BSP which played lip service about social justice and social security. But with Modi government’s tremendous track record of providing social security benefits, these people moved to BJP. If the party continues to be popular among lower strata of the country the upcoming general elections will not be a big hurdle for the Modi government.
