As India charts its course toward becoming a developed nation by 2047 under the vision of Viksit Bharat, two flagship initiatives—Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) and Digital India—have emerged as the foundation stones of this ambitious transformation.
Launched with a shared objective of inclusive growth, these programs aimed to empower the poorest citizens through financial inclusion and digital connectivity. Over a decade later, the legacy of these schemes is mixed: undeniable progress is tempered by persistent structural and systemic challenges.
The Jan Dhan Mission: Banking the Unbanked, But to What End?
Launched on August 28, 2014, the Jan Dhan Yojana was heralded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the world’s largest financial inclusion initiative. “This is not just a program,” he declared, “but a mission to give the poor access to the financial system, their rights and dignity”.
In raw numbers, the scheme has been remarkably successful. As of mid-2025, over 53 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been opened, with cumulative deposits exceeding ₹2.3 lakh crore. The majority of account holders are women, and a significant portion are from rural India.
However, the promise of empowerment through mere account opening has not always translated into financial resilience. A 2023 study by the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) found that roughly 29% of Jan Dhan accounts remained inactive, with no recorded transactions in over a year. Moreover, the accounts often serve as passive repositories for government benefits rather than active tools for financial management.
“Financial inclusion cannot end with account creation,” noted Renu Kohli, a former RBI economist, in a newspaper column. “Without consistent usage, access to credit, and digital literacy, these accounts risk becoming symbolic rather than substantive.”
The challenges are manifold: poor internet connectivity in rural branches, insufficient digital infrastructure for banking correspondents (BCs), low awareness among account holders, and the imposition of ATM and transaction fees that deter usage by low-income customers.
Digital India: A Revolution in Reach, Not in Depth
The Digital India initiative, launched in July 2015, aimed to transform India into a “digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.” A decade later, India boasts over 850 million internet users, a globally admired Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) stack, and the most advanced real-time payment system in the world, UPI.
In 2024, Prime Minister Modi called India’s digital transformation “the most inclusive technology revolution the world has seen,” citing how even street vendors use QR codes and digital wallets. “In India, technology has empowered the poor, not just the privileged,” he said at the Bharat Tech Summit.
Yet, for all its scale, Digital India’s reach has outpaced its depth. Despite impressive headline numbers, only 65% of households in India have internet access, with deep disparities along rural–urban, gender, and caste lines. A 2024 report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) highlighted that the digital gender gap remains significant: only 39% of women in rural areas are regular internet users, compared to 70% of men.
Furthermore, cybersecurity has emerged as a critical threat. In June 2025, Prime Minister Modi cautioned: “Today, a person with a 10th-grade education can wipe out your bank account with a click. We must be more vigilant as we grow more digital.”
Experts echo this concern. “As government services migrate online, the weakest users—elderly, illiterate, rural citizens—face the most risk,” said Prof. Reetika Khera of IIT Delhi. “Digitisation must be accompanied by data protection, grievance redressal, and human handholding.”
The JAM Trinity: Successes and Shortfalls
The JAM trinity—Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile—was envisioned as a platform for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), reducing leakages, duplication, and corruption. While DBT mechanisms have indeed improved subsidy delivery, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, there have also been serious lapses.
A 2023 study by the Indian School of Business documented frequent Aadhaar-based exclusion errors, such as biometric mismatches and failed authentications. In Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, reports of pension and ration beneficiaries being denied entitlements due to technical failures became commonplace.
Critics argue that over-reliance on Aadhaar authentication without robust grievance mechanisms has created a new form of “digital bureaucracy.” Economist Jean Drèze has called it “a technology-centric solution imposed on human-centric problems.”
In the case of welfare payments, digital architecture has sometimes deepened rather than resolved exclusion. A 2022 paper published in EPW noted that “technological fixes may entrench hierarchies and shift the burden of failure onto the most vulnerable.”
Bridging the Gap: From Access to Empowerment
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, passed in 2023, was a step toward data privacy, but implementation remains patchy. A mature data protection regime, transparent algorithms in governance platforms, and decentralised accountability mechanisms are critical for trust in digital systems.
Equally important is investing in digital literacy, especially for women, senior citizens, and the differently abled. The government’s PM Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan has trained millions, but experts say outcomes are mixed. “One-time training doesn’t guarantee confidence,” says Seema Das, a digital literacy volunteer in Assam. “People need ongoing support.”
In the financial domain, enhanced interoperability, zero-fee accounts, and meaningful credit access must become the next goals of Jan Dhan 2.0. Merely counting accounts will not suffice—what matters now is how those accounts transform lives.
Promise Meets Reality
Together, Jan Dhan and Digital India have laid the groundwork for a more connected, accountable, and inclusive India. They have helped the nation leapfrog certain stages of development and created a new digital commons—one admired around the world.
But the foundational cracks are visible. Account dormancy, digital exclusion, cyber vulnerability, and technocratic overreach threaten to hollow out their transformative potential.
India’s journey toward becoming a Viksit Bharat will require more than technological scale; it will require depth, equity, and empathy. As the Prime Minister himself said in his Independence Day address of 2024:
“We do not measure success only in numbers. We measure it in the dignity of a citizen who feels seen, heard, and served.”
For that vision to become a reality, the next chapter of Jan Dhan and Digital India must focus not just on reach, but on meaningful, lived inclusion.
(Anoop Verma is Editor-News, ETGovernment)
