After launching the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounded a note of caution just five weeks later over the difficulties the scheme would be encountering in the future. He asked the bank officers and staff to undertake mid-course corrections required. What one can presume from this note of caution is that the government must be foreseeing some hurdles in future or is it that Prime Minister is crystal gazing about the outcome? Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan too had hailed the scheme by bringing banking to the 40 per cent of country’s population which has no access to the facility with a debit card and insurance cover of rupees one lakh. The Prime Minister had earlier sent an email to bank officers and staff on 25th August 25 before launching the scheme on 28th August. As the scheme progresses the forward journey is bound to become more difficult and achievements harder to come by. Reaching the last few who do not have bank accounts is going to be progressively more difficult. This simple tool of financial inclusion can be a powerful means to reform welfare programmes with people’s participations and by switching to direct cash transfers through electronic means will help in curbing the enormous leakage, pilferages that are hallmarks of a corrupt and wasteful government welfare programmes like PDS. Effort should be on promoting financial literacy amongst the new account holders and new accounts also need to be kept alive and properly utilised. Aadhaar numbers will be needed to be seed in bank accounts, facilities like e-KYC must be gainfully utilised and bank branches and Bank Mitras will have to play a more proactive role so that every account holder is reached by a banking agent regularly. “I am confident that with the kind of enthusiasm and commitment that you have demonstrated, we will succeed in achieving Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana’s objectives as planned,” Modi had said. Linking Aadhaar to Jan Dhan can turn into a financial tool for boosting social welfare schemes especially those focusing on empowerment of women and making each citizen financially independent.
