9 crore Jan Dhan accounts have no money: World Bank

GN Bureau | April 17, 2015


#jan dhan yojna   #world bank   #financial inclusion  


Bank account penetration in India has increased from 35 percent in 2011 to 53 percent in 2015, which means as many as 175 million new bank accounts were opened in these three years, says a World Bank report on measuring financial inclusion across the world. The report also says that the country also suffers from high dormancy rates.

As mentioned in the report, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna led to the opening of 125 million new bank accounts by the end of 2015, as compared to a 2013 survey that had found fewer than 400 million people in the country had bank accounts. Of these new bank accounts, 72 percent (90 million) show zero balances, says the report.

See full report here

“This may be in part because many new account holders may not yet have had an opportunity to use their accounts— especially since the accounts were not set up for an explicit purpose, such as to receive wages or government transfer payments,” the report says.
The report also said only 39 percent of all account holders in India owned an ATM card.

Comments

 

Other News

AI: Code, Control, Conquer

India today stands at a critical juncture in the area of artificial intelligence. While the country is among the fastest adopters of AI in the world, it remains heavily reliant on technologies developed elsewhere. This paradox, experts warn, cannot persist if India seeks technological sovereignty.

RBI pauses to assess inflation risks, policy transmission

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has begun the new fiscal year with a calibrated pause, keeping the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent in its April Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. The decision, taken unanimously, reflects a shift from aggressive policy action to cautious observation after a signi

New pathways for tourism growth

Traditionally, India’s tourism policy has been based on three main components: the number of visitors, building tourist attractions and providing facilities for tourists. Due to the increase in climate-related issues and environmental destruction that occurred over previous years, policymakers have b

Is the US a superpower anymore?

On April 8, hours after warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight,” US president Donald Trump, exhibiting his unique style of retreating from high-voltage brinkmanship, announced that he agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. The weekend talks in Islamabad have failed and the futur

Machines communicate, humans connect

There is a moment every event professional knows—the kind that arrives without warning, usually an hour before the curtain rises. Months of meticulous planning are in place. And then comes the call: “We’ll also need a projector. For the slides.”   No email

Why India is entering a ‘stagflation lite’ phase

India’s macroeconomic narrative is quietly shifting—from a rare “Goldilocks” equilibrium of stable growth and contained inflation to a more fragile phase where external shocks are beginning to dominate domestic policy outcomes. The numbers still look reassuring at first glance: GDP


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter