Financial Inclusion To Ensure Economic Development Of Marginalised People: FM
Financial inclusion is a significant step towards inclusive growth which ensures the overall economic development of the marginalised sections of the society, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday.
On the 8th Anniversary of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY), Sitharaman said that the success of the PMJDY since August 28, 2014, is reflected in terms of opening of over 46 crore bank accounts with a deposit balance of Rs 1.74 lakh crore with its expanded coverage to 67 per cent rural or semi-urban areas as well as 56 per cent of women Jan Dhan account holders.
"Continuation of PMJDY beyond 2018 saw a marked shift in approach to meet challenges and requirements of the emerging FI landscape in the country," she said.
There has been a shift in focus from every household to every adult with added emphasis on the usage of accounts by enhancing Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) flows through these accounts, promoting digital payments through the use of RuPay cards, etc, she added.
“The underlying pillars of PMJDY, namely, Banking the Unbanked, Securing the Unsecured and Funding the Unfunded has made it possible to adopt multi-stakeholders collaborative approach while leveraging technology for serving the unserved and underserved areas as well,” the FM said.
She also said that the JAM pipeline created through account holders’ consent-based linking of bank accounts with Aadhar and mobile numbers of the account holders, which is one of the important pillars of the FI ecosystem, has enabled instant DBT under various government welfare schemes to the eligible beneficiaries.
The advantage of the architecture created under the FI ecosystem came handy during the Covid-19 pandemic when it facilitated direct income support to farmers under PM-KISAN and transfer of ex-gratia payment to women PMJDY account holders under PMGKP in a seamless and time-bound manner, " the minister stated.
Sitharaman added, “Financial Inclusion needs policy-led intervention based on an architecture linked to suitable financial products, information and communication technologies and data infrastructure."
