The key objective of the Government of India is to enforce direct benefit transfers (DBT) on a large scale. JAM, a model that involves integration of Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhar and mobile technology, shall help the Government in implementing DBT on a large scale. India's mobile phone penetration is expected to rise to around 85-90% by 2020 (Omidyar Network), which makes the mobile an ideal medium for achieving this objective.

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana was launched in 2014 to provide basic financial services like savings bank account, remittance facilities, insurance and pension to the underprivileged sections of society by leveraging technology. The beneficiaries are also provided a Rupay card with an accident insurance of Rs 1 lakh. As of August 1, 2018, the number of Jan Dhan Yojana beneficiaries had reached 32.25 crore with deposits in the accounts recorded at Rs 80,674.82 crore. Also, 24.27 crore Rupay cards had been issued to beneficiaries.

Moreover, 210 million Aadhaar cards were issued at an exponential rate of around 4 million cards per week. By March 2018, more than 1.19 billion Aadhaar enrolments had taken place. Aadhaar makes it easier for the government to identify the beneficiaries, to transfer the money to the beneficiaries' accounts and tackle the last-mile challenge of getting money from banks into the beneficiaries' hands.

Impact:

• Centre has been determining the beneficiaries of the LPG subsidy by asserting that consumers map their bank accounts and gas connections to their Aadhaar.
• JAM has helped in reducing leakages and provided the government with more fiscal space.
• JAM has aided the Government in trimming idle funds, thereby enhancing ease of doing business with the Government.
• As of August 2017, nearly Rs. 65,000 crores have been injected into the economy through integration of Jan Dhan Yojana and aided in improving the country's value of gold holdings to financial savings ratio.
• As of April 2016, estimates show that about Rs 17,000 crore of subsidy had been saved on cooking gas alone.
• Savings to the exchequer from Direct Benefit Transfer are expected to reach Rs 40,000 crore in 2018-19, with cumulative savings since 2013 expected to reach Rs 1.25 lakh crore.
• The scheme has familiarised the rural population with the concept of financial savings, which in turn has reduced gold imports into the country which will lead to reduction in the current account deficit and a boost to GDP output.

Last updated: August, 2018