Loading…
The Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana completed 12 years on 28 August 2026, marked by the Prime Minister and by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Annpurna Devi.
More than 59 crore Jan-Dhan accounts have been opened, of which 56% belong to women and 78% are in villages and small towns.
Deposits in these accounts have crossed ₹3.1 lakh crore.
₹53 lakh crore has been transferred directly to beneficiaries through the JAM — Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile — trinity.
Launched on 28 August 2014, the scheme is built on the Reserve Bank of India's Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account framework and carries a RuPay debit card with accident insurance and an overdraft facility.
Welfare transfers in India historically leaked because there was no reliable way to establish that the person receiving a benefit was the person entitled to it, and no direct channel to reach them. JAM closes both gaps with three separate pieces that only work together: Jan Dhan supplies a bank account for nearly every household, Aadhaar supplies a unique identity to link that account to a beneficiary record, and mobile supplies the channel for authentication and confirmation. Once all three exist, a subsidy or benefit can be credited straight into the beneficiary's account rather than moving through intermediaries or being delivered in kind. The ₹53 lakh crore figure is the cumulative measure of what has flowed through that architecture. Its significance for the exam is conceptual rather than arithmetical: financial inclusion here is not an end in itself but the infrastructure layer that made Direct Benefit Transfer possible at national scale.
Simple Analogy: Think of a payment as needing an address, a name and a doorbell. Jan Dhan is the address, Aadhaar is the name that proves it is the right house, and the mobile is the doorbell. Any one alone delivers nothing.
Provide every household with a basic bank account and access to credit, insurance, pension and financial literacy.
Key: Zero-balance Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account with a RuPay debit card carrying accident insurance cover, an overdraft facility of up to ₹10,000 for eligible holders, and eligibility for Direct Benefit Transfer.
Provide affordable life insurance cover to account holders.
Key: A life insurance scheme for which a Jan Dhan account is the natural enrolment route.
Provide affordable accident insurance cover.
Key: An accident insurance scheme, again distributed through bank accounts, and distinct from the accident cover bundled with the RuPay card itself.
Extend a guaranteed pension to workers in the unorganised sector.
Key: Contributions are auto-debited from the subscriber's bank account, which is why account penetration was a precondition for the scheme.
Provide collateral-free institutional credit to micro enterprises.
Key: Jan Dhan account holders are among the eligible beneficiaries, completing the progression the scheme describes as moving from inclusion to empowerment.
Route subsidies and benefits directly into beneficiaries' bank accounts.
Key: The delivery mechanism that the Jan Dhan account, Aadhaar and mobile together make possible; ₹53 lakh crore has moved through the JAM route.
The nodal department for PMJDY and for the wider financial inclusion agenda including PMJJBY, PMSBY and Atal Pension Yojana.
Introduced the Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account in August 2012, the account framework PMJDY was built on, and regulates the Business Correspondent model through which rural accounts are serviced.
Operates the RuPay card network on which Jan Dhan debit cards, and the accident insurance cover attached to them, are issued.
Issues Aadhaar, the identity layer of the JAM trinity that allows benefits to be routed to a verified beneficiary's account.
Nearly every DBT-based welfare scheme — LPG subsidy, PM-KISAN, scholarship payments — presupposes a bank account for the beneficiary, which is why PMJDY is treated as infrastructure rather than as a welfare scheme in its own right.
With 56% of accounts held by women, the scheme intersects directly with schemes that pay benefits to women beneficiaries and with the broader question of whether account ownership translates into control over household income.
Account penetration is the precondition for retail digital payments; the RuPay card issued with a Jan Dhan account is often a household's first formal payment instrument.
Dormant accounts are the standing criticism of mass account-opening drives, which is why financial literacy is written into the scheme's stated objectives alongside account access.
The Business Correspondent model that services rural Jan Dhan accounts is part of the same regulatory push that governs branch expansion and priority sector obligations.
General Awareness > Banking and Financial Inclusion Schemes
GS Paper 3 > Indian Economy > Inclusive Growth; GS Paper 2 > Welfare Schemes
General Awareness > Government Schemes
General Awareness > Current Affairs and Schemes
Consider the following statements: 1. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) helps in promoting the financial inclusion in the country. 2. NPCI has launched RuPay, a card payment scheme. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer: Both 1 and 2
What is/are the facility/facilities the beneficiaries can get from the services of Business Correspondent (Bank Saathi) in branchless areas? 1. It enables the beneficiaries to draw their subsidies and social security benefits in their villages. 2. It enables the beneficiaries in the rural areas to make deposits and withdrawals. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer: Both 1 and 2
'Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana' has been launched for
Answer: promoting financial inclusion in the country
The establishment of 'Payment Banks' is being allowed in India to promote financial inclusion. Which of the following statements is/are correct in this context? 1. Mobile telephone companies and supermarket chains that are owned and controlled by residents are eligible to be promoters of Payment Banks. 2. Payment Banks can issue both credit cards and debit cards. 3. Payment Banks cannot undertake lending activities. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer: 1 and 3 only
Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana is aimed at
Answer: bringing the small entrepreneurs into formal financial system
PMJDY is among the most frequently asked schemes in banking and SSC general awareness, and its anniversary data is refreshed every August.
A savings account with no minimum balance requirement, introduced by the RBI in August 2012 and the account framework on which PMJDY was built.
Jan Dhan accounts, Aadhaar and mobile connectivity, the three-part architecture that enables Direct Benefit Transfer at national scale.
The transfer of subsidies and benefits straight into a beneficiary's bank account, bypassing intermediaries.
An agent authorised by a bank to deliver basic banking services in locations where a branch is not viable — the delivery channel behind rural Jan Dhan accounts.
A small credit line, up to ₹10,000 under PMJDY, that an eligible account holder can draw beyond the account balance.