Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) - A Study of its Role in Financial Inclusion and Sustainable Development

In India, banking system has grown tremendously over past decade but it failed to end the rule of usurious money lenders in rural areas and urban slums who still exploit the poor and illiterate section of the society. In past, Government of India and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) both had undertaken number of initiatives for inclusive growth but still very large population and households didn't have access to formal banking services. Keeping this excluded section of the society in mind, current Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana on 15 August 2014 and launched it as a national mission for financial inclusion on August 28, 2014. Initially the scheme was launched targeting about 7.5 crore accounts to be opened but soon these targets were revised to 10 crore accounts due to record accounts opening under the scheme.

This paper is a systematic attempt to study the progress, shortcomings and what lies in future for the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and explores into how this scheme has been able to influence life of poor people. A comparison has been made of this scheme with various other schemes launched previously in India and worldwide for financial inclusion.