Ms Purnima
Sharma*
Sogada, a small village of
Jashpur district in Chhattisgarh, is beautifully nestled in the lap of nature.
The picturesque settlement is surrounded by green hills which make the village
somewhat difficult to access. Not surprisingly, this inaccessibility has added
to the difficulties being faced by the villagers in this region. Ask Roshni
Bai, a resident of this village who says that the nearest bank to this village
is 15 kilometer far, and for this very reason, the banking services were beyond
the reach of villagers.
Even after 69 years of
Independence, people like Roshni Bai could not be brought within the banking
system. Roshni Bai and their future generations could have been living in the
same conditions, but for a new change occurred. Some ‘Bank Mitras’ from a
bank visited her village and explained the meaning of savings and availing
banking services at their door step. It was a new dawn for the villagers.
People from the bank
explained the benefits of opening a bank account to them. They were also told
that they didn't need to visit bank now and for banking services. Bank
Correspondents will provide most of the banking services to them at their
doorstep. After knowing all this, there was no reason for them but to open a
bank account.
Roshni Bai now has a fair
amount of savings in her bank account and this has encouraged her and her
husband to save more. The couple is now planning to enhance their monthly
deposits and save enough money to buy a scooter for the household. This would
enhance the mobility of family members and help increase the income. For the
first time, Roshni Bai and crores of such people now have bank in their lives,
and it happened only due to Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojna (PMJDY).
Under this Scheme, a majority
of people who opened their bank accounts were earlier outside the periphery of
banking system. The number of people who have been included in the banking
system, in such a short time, is a global record. Both public and private banks
have been roped in for this scheme.
The Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan
Yojana (PMJDY) was launched on August 28, 2014 by the Prime Minister of
India Shri Narendra Modi in the national capital with a vision to bring
unbanked section of the society into mainstream banking. The Scheme was
initiated to provide bank account and banking services to each household in the
country so as to have comprehensive financial inclusion. So far, as on 29th June,
2016, more than 22.29 crore new bank accounts have been opened under the Yojna
with a total deposits of over Rs 39,251.57 crore in these accounts, and
overdraft facility has been availed in about 20 lakhs accounts.
Out of all the accounts opened
under the scheme, 61% are in rural areas and more than 52% are women account
holders.
As on 29th June,
2016, 10.39 crore of the accounts opened under PMJDY are seeded with Aadhar
numbers. In addition to this, 18.22 crore Rupay
Cards have been issued under PMJDY. Out of all the accounts opened
under PMJDY, the zero balance accounts are now left almost one fourth only,
that is 25.29 percent, which means people have started doing transactions in
their accounts.
Guinness Book of World Records
has recognized the Achievements made under PMJDY especially the largest number
of bank accounts opened under PMJDY in a shortest time.
The most striking feature of
this Scheme is that instead of delivering banking services to villages, the
focus is on households. Earlier, cities were not included in the scheme
assuming that banks were already there. But 8.60 crore accounts opened in cities
under PMJDY showed that it was needed in cities too. Through this Scheme, banks
also got an opportunity to tap the saving potential of the common man. Apart
from this, provision has also been made that accounts opened under this scheme
are connected with mobile phones so that account holder can directly get
information about transactions in their accounts.
Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana
(PMJDY) has proved to be a major job creator. Empowering people by financial
inclusion, and creating self-employment by increasing the availability of
credit is one aspect of the scheme. This Scheme also enabled banks to create
jobs for more than 1.26 lakh Banking Correspondents who are delivering banking
services to households at their door step. Banking Correspondents in many ways
acts as ATM too for many people. They help people to open bank account, deliver
their money and also in claiming insurance. In a very short span of time,
Bank Correspondents/Bank Mitras have become very popular in the rural areas.
The objective of PMJDY is to
bring common people within the sphere of social security. After Independence,
the concept of welfare State has been talked about much but, how to take it to
the common man has not been thought-out. As a result, lot of Government policies
were formulated but their execution was poor. Money that had to reach to the
masses from the Centre and State capitals used to remain unutilized or got
evaporated midway somewhere.
The previously existing system
was the cause of corruption where there was no provision to check whether the
actual benefit of the scheme has reached to the intended beneficiary or not. A
former Prime Minister's statement was much talked about when he said that only
16 paisa out of a rupee reaches to the actual beneficiaries of the
Government funds released by the Centre for their welfare Schemes..
The Constitution, specifically,
Article 41 of Directive Principles of State Policy, asks the State to “make
effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public
assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, and in
other cases within the limits of its economic capacity and development,.” As
the Directive Principles are not binding on the Government, there has never
been much emphasis on it in earlier regimes to ensure social security for
citizens.
So, the fundamental change in
the methods of carrying-out the schemes was needed. Even after six decades of
independence, the Government schemes could not achieve the desired results in
the area of social security. And millions of people have been
left-out of the banking system. Therefore, there was a need to involve the
people themselves, so that they can create their own future. At the same time,
the need to include private sector was also felt. The Government is working on
the very fundamental change and this transformation is indeed speedy.
Previously, poor people had to
put in tiring efforts and many formalities had to be fulfilled just to open a
bank account. Now they have got enough strength from the system and
merely with an identity proof or self certification, an account can be opened
and banking services can be availed.
With Jan Dhan, Aadhar and
Mobile (JAM) technology, bank accounts are connected and middleman can no
longer exploit the poor people. Social Welfare schemes were earlier more of a
boon for middleman who used to siphon-off bulk of the funds by taking advantage
of flaws/loopholes in the system. Ghost beneficiaries were also one of the
facet through which middleman made profit. Now with Jan Dhan, Aadhar and Mobile
(JAM) have eliminated the middleman altogether. Now the money is being
transferred directly into the target beneficiary’s account. Such Schemes
are definitely the need of the hour and play an important role in transforming
the lives of people and the country at large.
********
*(Author is an independent journalist and TV anchor).
The
views expressed are personal.