India reaches step coser to achieving financial inclusion

India reached closer to achieving the  goal of financial inclusion with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Wednesday saying that 30 crore bank accounts have been opened under Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana in the past two-and-a-half years. The number of such bank accounts were merely 12 crore in January 2015.

He said that the number of zero balance accounts fell from 77% in September 2014 to just 20% in August this year. Addressing a Conclave on Financial Inclusion here, he said the number of accounts opened for the financially disadvantaged section of people were significantly large.

“When PMJDY was launched in 2014, I was myself not sure what would be its impact. But today we have 300 million bank accounts for 25 million families. The bank accounts are more than the number of families,” Jitley said.

Jaitley said the biometric identification number Aadhaar has received constitutional backing under the BJP-led government at the Centre will stand the test of constitutionality.

“Aadhar has been an important leap forward for India and now we have begun to understand its potential,” Jaitley said.

Speaking on the occasion UN Resident Coordinator Yuri Afanasiev said it was a remarkable achievement that around 92% Indians had Aadhar card.

Speaking for the first time after the Reserve Bank of India came out with final the number of demonetized notes deposited with banks since November 8, Jaitley said one of the aims of note ban was reducing the use of cash in the economy.

“To some extent the volume of cash has been reduced, tax base has increased and we are beginning to see formalization of the economy,” Jaitley said.