In recent times, given the magnitude of financial exclusion and problem of poverty, financial inclusion has become an important policy concern of Government of India. It is believed that continuous exclusion of the poor and other disadvantaged sections from the institutional banking system not only perpetuates economic inequalities between the groups of people in society but also inhibits the growth of the nation as a whole. In this regard, the Government of India with the help of Reserve Bank of India has been implementing various policies and programmes to address financial exclusion from time-to-time. Despite its concerted efforts, a large section of the society is hitherto uncovered by the formal banking system. To mitigate these long drawn financial sufferings, the Indian Government has come up with another initiative, named as Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which is launched on August 28th 2014. Since its inception, the scheme has received greater attention across India and in fact, within six months, it has managed to open 12.54 crore bank accounts by the unbanked households. However, the success of the scheme depends upon the optimum utilization of various financial services through these accounts. After 28 months of its progress, the scheme has received mixed response from the people as well as development practitioners. Given this backdrop, the study attempts to briefly discuss the concept of financial inclusion and highlights its importance. Further, it introduces the PMJDY and discusses its objectives, benefits and its progress. While doing so, the study also provides a critical narration on the implementation of the scheme and brings out the challenges. Finally, it offers few suggestions for its effective implementation.
Business Correspondent Model, Financial Inclusion/exclusion, Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, Poverty, Self-Help Groups
