Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana: Eligibility, Coverage, and Benefits – Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is a financial inclusion program launched by the Government of India. Under the scheme, Indian citizens (minors of age 10 and older can also open an account with a guardian to manage it), which aims to expand affordable access to financial services such as bank accounts, remittances, credit, insurance and pensions. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana campaign on 28 August 2014.
The scheme is run by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance. on inauguration day, 15 million bank accounts were opened under this scheme. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized this achievement, remarking: “The most bank accounts opened in one week as a part of the financial inclusion campaign is 18,096,130 and was achieved by the Government of India from August 23 to 29, 2014″.
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History
- The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 August 2014.
- The slogan of the scheme is “Mera Khaata, Bhagya Vidhata” (meaning “My account, fortune maker”).
- The scheme was started after the failure of previous government schemes, including Swaabhimaan which was a 2011 campaign of the Government of India to bring banking services to rural areas.