Twelve Years of Jan Dhan: From financial access to economic empowerment

A bank account may appear to be a small and simple instrument. Yet, its significance lies not in the account itself, but in the opportunities it unlocks. Money can be received and kept safely. Savings can be built. Payments can be made without relying entirely on cash. Government benefits can reach the intended beneficiary directly. Over time, the same account can become the starting point for insurance, pension and credit.

For a large country like ours, providing this basic financial access to every household is a formidable task. India had been expanding its banking network and pursuing financial inclusion for several years before 2014. However, a significant gap existed between having a bank in the vicinity and having a bank account of one’s own.

The numbers explain that gap. In 2011, only 14.48 crore of India’s 24.67 crore households had banking facilities. The earlier approach to financial inclusion had largely focused on providing banking services to villages with a population of 2,000 and above. By 2014, the country had made progress, with 53.1 per cent of adults holding an account, compared with 35.2 per cent in 2011. Even then, a large section of the population remained outside formal banking. Among women, account ownership was 43.1 per cent.

To address this gap and bring the unbanked into formal banking stream, on 28th August 2014, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The change was in the scale and focus of the effort. The programme was founded on four guiding principles: Banking the Unbanked, Securing the Unsecured, Funding the Unfunded, and Serving the Underserved. By expanding access to formal banking and financial services, PMJDY brought crores of previously excluded individuals into the mainstream financial system.

Since its inception, PMJDY has emerged as the flagship programme of financial inclusion in India. It has connected crores of citizens to a wide range of financial services, including banking, insurance, pension schemes, DBT, and digital payments. In the process, it has reduced dependence on informal and often exploitative sources of finance, enhancing financial security and improving the quality of life of vulnerable households. Today, PMJDY is widely recognized as a cornerstone of India’s inclusive growth and socio-economic development agenda.

Over the past twelve years, PMJDY has grown into one of the world’s largest financial inclusion initiatives. With 58.63 crore accounts opened across the country and deposits of ₹3.08 lakh crore as on 1st July 2026, the scheme has demonstrated both its scale and transformative impact. The progress in account ownership is also visible in independent studies as well. According to the World Bank’s Global Findex 2025, 89 per cent of adults in India had an account in 2024, as against 35.2 per cent in 2011.

Among all participating banks, Indian Bank has made a significant contribution to the success of the programme, accounting for a 4.24 per cent market share in PMJDY accounts. Deposits in PMJDY accounts with the Bank have registered a robust 18 per cent YoY growth, reaching ₹13,901 crore as of July 2026. This trend mirrors the broader national trend, with PMJDY account holders increasingly using formal banking channels for savings, transactions and access to financial services.

While PMJDY was conceived primarily as a vehicle for financial inclusion, it has also generated significant benefits for the banking system. The steady growth in PMJDY deposits has enabled banks to mobilize a large and stable pool of low-cost funds, strengthening their deposit base and supporting credit growth. The significance of this contribution is reflected in the average balance of ₹5,224 per PMJDY account across the banking industry, indicating that these accounts have evolved beyond mere access points and are increasingly serving as active savings accounts.

The growth in account balances reflects rising financial awareness, improved savings behaviour, and growing trust in the formal banking system among previously excluded sections of society. PMJDY has thus emerged as a win-win proposition, advancing financial empowerment while contributing to the stability and sustainability of the banking sector.

The significance of PMJDY extends beyond savings and deposits. By bringing crores of citizens into the formal banking system, it created the base that helped the country’s digital payments ecosystem scale rapidly. UPI subsequently transformed these accounts into channels for simple, instant and interoperable digital transactions, bringing the convenience of digital payments to a much larger section of the population.

PMJDY’s real achievement, however, lies in the financial ecosystem it enabled beyond the bank account. It provided a foundation for extending insurance and pension coverage through schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY), bringing these instruments of financial protection within the reach of crores of citizens. As of 1st July 2026, enrolments under PMJJBY stood at 27.84 crore and under PMSBY at 58.78 crore, while APY enrolments stood at 9.29 crore as of 30th June 2026. The scale of these programmes reflects the evolution of financial inclusion from providing access to a bank account to creating greater financial protection and long-term security. At Indian Bank, the figures stand at 1.14 crore, 2.32 crore and 0.53 crore, respectively.

The impact of PMJDY has also extended to formal credit through schemes such as PM SVANidhi and the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY). By connecting individuals to affordable credit, insurance, pension, and other financial services, the programme has played a transformative role in creating a more inclusive, resilient, and accessible financial ecosystem.

PMJDY has also emerged as a powerful instrument of women’s empowerment. More than 50% of PMJDY account holders are women, reflecting the scheme’s success in bringing crores of women into the formal financial system. Access to bank accounts in their own names has strengthened their financial independence, encouraged savings, improved control over household finances, and enabled the direct receipt of welfare benefits. In doing so, PMJDY has not only expanded financial inclusion but has also advanced the cause of gender empowerment.

For the last twelve years, PMJDY has laid a strong foundation for taking financial inclusion to its next stage by enabling universal access.  The opportunity now is to make financial inclusion deeper, more useful and more responsive to the changing needs of citizens.

The Unified Lending Interface, supported by the Account Aggregator framework, can enable banks and other lenders to access relevant, consent-based information and make credit assessment faster and more efficient. Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies can take this further by helping banks understand customer needs better, strengthen risk assessment, improve fraud detection and deliver more relevant services. Initiatives such as Banking BHASHINI can help overcome language barriers and make digital financial services more accessible across the country. Together, these can transform the Jan Dhan account from an instrument of access into a gateway to a broader range of financial services and opportunities, making financial inclusion more meaningful in the everyday economic lives of citizens.

The responsibility now is to ensure that this greater access and wider use of technology translates into genuine financial well-being. Banks must ensure that technology and innovation remain focused on customer needs, with financial services that are accessible, appropriate, affordable and transparent. As the use of digital platforms and data increases, customer protection, data privacy, cyber security, financial literacy and effective grievance redressal will become even more important. Customers, too, have a responsibility to use financial services prudently, protect their credentials, remain alert to fraud and make informed decisions on savings, insurance and borrowing. The objective must be to ensure that greater access and greater technology are accompanied by greater trust and financial resilience.

The journey of PMJDY over the past twelve years has shown that financial inclusion can become a powerful instrument of economic transformation when policy, banking and technology move together. What began with the simple but profound objective of giving every citizen access to a bank account has evolved into an ecosystem of savings, social security, digital payments and formal credit. The next chapter is about using this ecosystem to create greater opportunities, strengthen financial security and enable wider participation in India’s growth. If the first twelve years of Jan Dhan were about bringing people into the formal financial system, the years ahead must be about enabling them to use that system to improve their socio-economic well-being. This will be essential, as a financially empowered citizens will form the foundation of an inclusive and prosperous India and the larger national aspiration of building a Viksit Bharat.

The writer is Managing Director & CEO, Indian Bank

Disclaimer: The views expressed are the author’s own and do not reflect the official policy or position of Financial Express.