PMJDY To Spur Financial Inclusion: Venkaiah Naidu

Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) here on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, Venkaiah Naidu said that according to the World Bank Findex Survey of 2012, only 35% of Indian adults had access to a formal bank account. He added that only 8% borrowed from a formal financial institution in last 12 months.

The miniscule number suggested an urgent need to further push the financial inclusion agenda to ensure that people at the bottom of the pyramid joined the mainstream of the formal financial system, he said.

"Census 2011 estimated that 58.7% of households had access to banking services. Only 54.46% of rural households and 67.68% of urban households are availing themselves of banking services. In Andhra Pradesh, the total number of households holding bank accounts are 1,11,63,283, and financial inclusion is 53.1%. People yet to get bank accounts are 98,61,251 (46.9%), of the total number of households of 2,10,24,534. The present banking network of the country, as on March 31, 2014, comprises of a bank branch network of 1,15,082 and an ATM network of 1,60,055. Of these, 43,962 branches (38.2%) and 23,334 ATMs (14.58%) are in rural areas," Naidu rattled off.

The Union Minister said that the objective of the PMJDY was to ensure access to various financial services like availability of savings bank accounts; access to need-based credit; and remittance facilities, insurance and pension to the excluded sections - i. e. the weaker sections and the low income groups.

Financial inclusion of the poor would help in bringing them to the mainstream of growth, and would also provide the financial institutions an opportunity to be partners in inclusive growth, he said.

Venkaiah Naidu stated that the PMJDY would provide banking services, and that banking outlets would be established within a 5km radius of every village. At an average of at least one account per family, the scheme would ensure the opening of 6 crore accounts in villages and 1.5 crore accounts in urban areas.

"At present only 0.43 lakh villages out of the 5.92 lakh villages in the country have bank branches. In order to cover the remaining areas with the banking outlets, a composite approach is being proposed through branch and branchless banking," he said.

The Union Minister praised Prime Minister Nadrendra Modi for launching pro-poor and middle-class-oriented initiatives within 100 days of coming to power. They included a saving instrument for girls (the girl child national saving certificate with an insurance cover); increase in the Public Provident Fund (PPF) annual ceiling from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1.5 lakhs; a rise in the investment limit under Section 80-C from Rupees 1 to 1.5 lakh; a new insurance scheme titled "Varishta Seva Bheema Yojna" for senior citizens; and removal of the monthly cap of one cylinder. (INN)