Practice Test 3

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, launched on twenty-eight August 2014, is one of the world's largest financial inclusion initiatives, designed to ensure that every household in India has access to a bank account, credit, insurance, and a pension plan. Under this programme, any Indian citizen above the age of ten years can open a zero-balance savings account at any bank or post office, receive a RuPay debit card with an accident insurance cover of up to two lakh rupees, and access an overdraft facility after satisfactory account operation for six months. The scheme has fundamentally transformed the landscape of financial inclusion in the country in the decade since its launch. Over fifty crore accounts have been opened under the programme, and the direct benefit transfer system has channelled government subsidies, wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, and pension payments directly into beneficiary accounts, eliminating the delays, diversions, and leakages associated with cash disbursement through intermediaries. The Jan Dhan platform forms the foundation of the government's broader financial ecosystem, enabling the seamless delivery of social security programmes at the scale required to reach India's enormous and geographically dispersed population. Combined with the Aadhaar identity infrastructure and the mobile telephony network, it creates the JAM trinity that allows precisely targeted benefit delivery to the intended recipients while excluding ineligible claimants. Women account for a majority of Jan Dhan account holders, and the scheme has been a powerful driver of women's financial empowerment, giving them independent access to banking services for the first time in many cases. The RuPay debit card issued with each account enables account holders to make purchases at point-of-sale terminals and withdraw cash from automated teller machines, extending the convenience of formal banking to those who previously depended entirely on cash transactions. The overdraft facility of up to ten thousand rupees, available to account holders who have operated their accounts satisfactorily for a specified period, provides a small credit buffer against short-term cash shortfalls without the need to approach informal moneylenders who charge exorbitant rates of interest. The programme has also improved the financial resilience of poor households by enabling them to receive disaster relief payments, insurance claim settlements, and scholarship disbursements directly into their bank accounts. The National Payments Corporation of India, which manages the RuPay network, has collaborated with the government to extend insurance coverage and other financial products through the Jan Dhan platform, further enhancing its value to account holders. The programme continues to expand its reach among senior citizens, persons with disabilities, migrants, and economically weaker sections, recognising that genuine financial inclusion requires not just account opening but active usage and access to a full range of appropriate financial services.