Abstract |
Despite tremendous growth of Banking Sector in India both horizontally and vertically, a large section of Indian population continues to remain unbanked even after attaining 69 years of our Independence. According to Census 2011, it was estimated that out of 24.67 crore households in the country, 14.48 crore (58.7%) households have access to banking services. Further, it is estimated that 6 crore households in rural and 1.5 crore in urban are need to be covered under Financial Inclusion. To address the issue of financial exclusion and long drawn financial sufferings, Hon'ble Prime Minister shri Narendra Modi announced “Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)” in his Independence speech on 15th August, 2014 and operationally launched on 28th August, 2014. This is a National Mission on Financial Inclusion (NMFI) encompassing an integrated approach to bring about comprehensive financial inclusion of all the excluded households in the country. It has been almost one and a half year that the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) being started and has come a long way and achieved tremendous progress. The present study is aimed at analyzing the current status of the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana with a view to know the progress. Further, an attempt is made to identify and present the challenges in transacting PMJDY Accounts. The study concludes that that a wide ranging and thorough framework, inclusive of Jan Dhan Yojana, Direct benefit cash transfer, minimizing zero balance accounts, financial literacy, improved infrastructure and self-sustaining last mile delivery model can result in effective financial inclusion. With firm intent and the ability to address challenges, financial inclusion for all can be realized in the near future |