At least 30 crore new families have got Jan Dhan accounts in which almost Rs 65,000 crore have been deposited, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today, on the eve of third anniversary of the scheme aimed at financial inclusion.
He said banks have conducted surveys about how the common man has benefitted from Jan Dhan Yojna as also from insurance schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jeewan Jyoti Bima Yojna and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna, from RuPay Card and Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna and these surveys have thrown up “inspiring stories”.
Modi said the schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jeewan Jyoti Bima Yojna and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna, with a small premium of one rupee or thirty rupees, are giving a new sense of confidence to the poor. “Tomorrow, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna will complete three years…On the 28th of August 2014, we had launched this campaign with a dream in our hearts,” he said in his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’.
He said the Jan Dhan Yojna had been a point of discussion among the financial pundits, not just in India, but all over the world. “Thirty crore new families have been linked to this scheme, bank accounts have been opened. This number is larger than the population of many countries of the world,” the prime minister said.
Under the Jan Dhan Yojna, almost Rs 65,000 crore have deposited in banks by the under privileged people, he said. “In a way, this is a saving for the poor, this is his empowerment for the future. And those who opened their accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan DhanYojna, have received the benefit of insurance as well,” he said.
Modi said he felt “a great sense of fulfilment that within three years, the last man on the fringes of the society has become a part of the mainstream economy of the country.” Because of the Jan Dhan Yojna, a poor man’s ways have changed as he has started going to the bank and started saving money.
“There is now an air of prudence. He (a poor person) is now beginning to understand that the money can be of use for his children. The money can be used productively in the days to come,” Modi said.
Not just this, when a poor person sees a RuPay Card in his pocket, he finds himself to be equal to the privileged people and feels a sense of dignity, he said. For many families, in times of adversity like the demise of the head of the family, they receive Rs 2 lakh in a matter of days through the one-rupee insurance, he said.
He said that under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna, millions and millions have been able to get loans from banks without any guarantee.
“They have been able to stand on their own feet and have succeeded in giving employment to one or two other people as well,” Modi said.