37 Cr RuPay cards issued to PMJDY account holders
By TIOL News Service
NEW DELHI, DEC 21, 2024: GOVERNMENT has been working for the poor and more than 200 schemes have been launched in the last 10 years for the welfare of the 140 crore people of the nation, said Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs and Road, Transport and Highways, Harsh Malhotra. Malhotra was addressing a Press Conference on impact of path breaking reforms of JAM(Jan Dhan Yojna, Aadhar& Mobile) Trinity Schemes,Digital Transactions and AYUSHMAN BHARAT-PM JAY.
Malhotra stated that under the visionary leadership of PM Narendra Modi, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has solved a significant portion of India's population by bringing them into the banking ecosystem. At present, there are more than 54 crore accounts, with a total deposit balance of approximately Rs 2.39 lakh crore- an increase of over 15 times since its inception. The scheme has been particularly successful in rural ,semi-urban areas and amongst women, with around 66% of accounts coming from these regions. Furthermore, 37.02 croreRuPay cards have been issued to PMJDY account holders, with the average deposit per account rising significantly, reflecting increased usage and savings behaviour. The World Bank has also acknowledged that India has achieved its financial inclusion goals in just six years, a feat that would have taken 47 years without its advanced Digital Public Infrastructure.
PM-Jan Dhan Yojna coupled with JAM Trinity has become the world's largest Financial inclusion program. Now, every rupee released from central Government reaches to the intended beneficiary directly without any middlemen which has further led to the enhancement of Indian Economy. The once neglected poor section of the country has been linked with the rising Indian Economy. This has been made possible with a mission-mode approach that involved both the government and the public.The Minister highlighted that JAM Trinity has driven the nation's digital revolution and enhance transparency within the financial ecosystem. The government's focus for the initiative is maximising value for every rupee spent, empowering the poor, and ensuring technology penetration among the masses has been achieved.The JAM Trinity has played a pivotal role in facilitating this progress, enabling more effective and inclusive financial transactions, particularly through Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT). This system has not only ensured subsidies and benefits reach the underprivileged directly but also reduced corruption and eliminated fake beneficiaries. The average deposits in the Jan Dhan Accounts as on 14.8.2024 is Rs 4352. The government has fought against poverty on all fronts and consequently,25 crore have come out of poverty in the last 10 years. Delhi alone has 65 lakh PM Jan Dhan Accounts with a total deposit of Rs 3114 crores along with 50 lakh beneficiaries of RuPAY Cards. 2,59,000 women have been benefited from the PM Ujjwala Scheme
Minister of State emphasised that the success of PMJDY and the JAM trinity has brought greater financial inclusion, empowering citizens with access to banking services while promoting transparency and curbing corruption.PMJDY has not only transformed the financial landscape for millions of Indians but also paved the way for India to emerge as a global leader in digital financial inclusion. About 10 crore fake beneficiaries have been weeded out from the system which has helped in prevent Rs 2.75 lakh crore from going into wrong hands.
Malhotra stated that India's digital payment landscape has also seen exponential growth, with UPI transactions expanding rapidly. In FY 2023-24, UPI transactions reached Rs 200 lakh crore, a 138% increase from 2017-18. This growth in digital payments has positioned India as a global leader in this domain, with UPI now operational in seven countries, further boosting financial inclusion and remittance flows. Through the continued expansion of digital payment solutions and initiatives like UPI, India is setting new benchmarks for economic empowerment and financial transparency and also mentioned that more than 40% of the global real-time payment transactions are happening in India.
The Government's focus on inclusive healthcare ensured that, India was just the fifth country to develop the COVID Vaccine and successfully executed the world's largest vaccine program in which 221 crore doses were administered to the people of the nation.
Minister of State highlighted that Ayushman Bharat- PradhanMantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) which was launched on 23.09.2018 with an aim to provide health cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. AB-PMJAY is presently implemented in 33 States/UTs across the country.
In March 2024, 37 lakh families of ASHA, Anganwadi Worker and Anganwadi Helpers were also included in the scheme.
Malhotra mentioned that on 29.10.2024, the Government of India expanded the scheme to provide free treatment benefits of up to Rs 5 lakh per year on a family basis to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their socio-economic status. As on 30.11.2024, approximately 36 crore Ayushman cards have been created across the country and a total of around 29,929 hospitals are empaneled under the scheme including 13,222 private hospitals, to ensure delivery of quality healthcare services to the beneficiaries. Further, a total of around8.39 crore hospital admissions worth aroundRs. 1.16 lakh crore have been authorized under the scheme.
