Genesis

In the Indian context, the term ‘Financial Inclusion' was used for the first time in April 2005 in the Annual Policy Statement presented by Y.Venugopal Reddy, the then Governor, Reserve Bank of India. Later on, this concept gained ground and came to be widely used in India and abroad. While recognizing the concerns in regard to the banking practices that tend to exclude rather than attract vast sections of population, banks were urged to review their existing practices to align them with the objective of financial inclusion.

What is Financial Inclusion?

Financial inclusion may be defined as the process of ensuring access to financial services and timely and adequate credit where needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low income groups at an affordable cost (The Committee on Financial Inclusion, Chairman: Dr.C.Rangarajan). Financial Inclusion, broadly defined, refers to universal access to a wide range of financial services at a reasonable cost. These include not only banking products but also other financial services such as insurance and pension products.

Financial inclusion broadens the resource base of the financial system by developing a culture of savings among large segment of rural population and plays its own role in the process of economic development. Further, by bringing low income groups within the perimeter of formal banking sector; financial inclusion protects their financial wealth and other resources in exigent circumstances. Financial inclusion also mitigates the exploitation of vulnerable sections by the usurious money lenders by facilitating easy access to formal credit.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, the National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely Banking Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner. This Financial Inclusion campaign was launched by the Hon'ble Prime Minister on 28 August 2014.

The scheme has been started with a target to provide 'universal and clear access to Banking facilities' starting with "Basic Banking Accounts" with overdraft facility of Rs.5,000. Account can be opened in any bank branch or Business Correspondent (Bank Mitr) outlet. Accounts opened under PMJDY are being opened with Zero balance. However, if the account-holder wishes to get cheque book, he/she will have to fulfil minimum balance criteria.

Comprehensive Financial Inclusion of the excluded section was proposed to be achieved by 14th August, 2018 in two phases as under:

Phase-I 15.08.2014 - 14.08.2015

• Universal access to banking facilities.
• Providing Basic Banking Accounts for saving & remittance and RuPay Debit card with inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs.1 lakh.
• Financial Literacy Programme.

Phase-II 15.08.2015 - 14.08.2018

• Overdraft facility of upto Rs. 5000/- after six months of satisfactory performance of saving / credit history.
• Creation of Credit Guarantee Fund for coverage of defaults in overdraft A/Cs.
• Micro-Insurance.
• Unorganized Sector Pension Schemes Like Swavalamban.

Under the scheme

1.   Account holders will be provided bank accounts with no minimum balance.

2.   RuPay debit cards will be issued with accidental insurance cover of Rs.1 lakh.

3.   After six months of opening of the bank account, holders will be eligible for Rs.5,000/- overdraft from the Bank.

4.   With the introduction of new technology introduced by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a person can transfer funds, check balance through a normal phone which was earlier limited only to smart phones.

5.   Mobile banking for the poor would be available through National Unified USSD Platform (NUUP) for which all banks and mobile companies have come together.

6.   Implementation of Insurance & Pension Schemes:

As per the announcement made in Union Budget 2015, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India had instructed all the Banks to implement following two insurance schemes which were rolled out from 1st June, 2015.

PM Suraksha Bima Yojana - Accidental Insurance scheme.

PM Jeevan Jyothi Bima Yojana - Life Insurance scheme.

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) was a Pension Scheme launched during 2015-16 budget, focussing on all citizens in the unorganized sector and organized sector. The scheme is administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

• All SB account holders under the age of 18-40 years are eligible to join APY.

• Under APY, there is a guaranteed minimum monthly pension for the subscribers ranging between Rs.1000/- to Rs.5000/- per month.

• The benefit of minimum pension would be guaranteed by the GoI.

• Monthly APY subscriptions will be covered under 80CCD of IT Act.

• Aadhaar will be the primary KYC. Aadhaar and mobile number are recommended to be obtained from subscribers for the ease of operation of the scheme.

• In case on death of Primary APY Subscriber, Spouse of the primary APY subscriber can continue the APY Scheme to receive Pension on attaining 60 years of age.

Latest Developments - Continuation of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

Now GOI has decided to continue National Mission for Financial Inclusion-PMJDY with the following modifications:

• To continue the National Mission for Financial Inclusion (PMJDY) beyond 14.8.2018.

• Existing OD limit of Rs 5,000 to be raised to Rs 10,000/-

• There will not be any conditions attached for OD upto Rs 2,000/-

• Age limit for availing OD facility to be revised from 18-60 years to 18-65 years.

• Under the expanded coverage from "every household to every adult", accidental insurance cover for new RuPay card holders to be raised from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh to new PMJDY accounts opened after 28.8.2018.

• Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance and National Informatics Centre (NIC) has jointly developed a mobile app called Jan Dhan Darshak as a part of financial inclusion (FI) initiative. As the name suggests, this app will act as a guide for the common people in locating a financial service touch points like Bank Branches, ATMs and Business Correspondents, at a given location in the country.

A pipeline has been created for the implementation of PMJDY through which Jan Dhan accounts and mobile banking have been linked to Aadhar (JAM). This pipeline is not only facilitating savings, disbursal of credit, social security, etc, but more importantly channelizing direct benefits of various government schemes to poor people of the country through DBT.

It has been decided to continue the flagship financial inclusion program (PMJDY), with focus on opening accounts from "every household to every adult". The pipeline of Jandhan-Aadhar-Mobile (JAM) will continue to provide the necessary backbone for coverage of these activities and thereby accelerating the pace of digitalised, financially included & insured society.

Our Bank has enabled missed call based enrolment for PMSBY (Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana) from 01.06.2019. On getting SMS Alert from the Bank, Customers who have registered their mobile number in their SB account can get enrolled under PMSBY by giving a missed call to +91 7065088800 from their registered mobile number.