Impact Assessment of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY): A State-Level Analysis

Abstract

PMJDY is a significant flagship initiative aimed at promoting financial inclusion in India. This scheme aims to provide universal access to banking services. The existing study was conducted due to the inadequate research on the performance of BIMARU states in India, in terms of financial inclusion (FI). Most of the literature discussed the comparison of Financial Inclusion Index methods and mentioned the performance of financial inclusion in southern, central and western states. Using the Euclidean method for Financial Inclusion Index, the current research analyses the state-wise performance of PMJDY using secondary data on four variables, such as accounts per 1000 people, debit cards per household, accounts per household, and DBT amount per household. The findings show that the north-central states have performed better in financial inclusion under the PMJDY scheme as compared to other states and come under the high financial inclusion category. In 2020, eleven states were categorised as having high financial inclusion, but in 2023, this number decreased to nine. The Wilcoxon Signed–Rank test is used to measure whether the changes in FII between 2020 and 2023 are statistically significant. The policymaker needs to focus on some states that have performed well in financial inclusion and promote opening accounts and usage.