Hi,

So, here’s the world’s largest financial inclusion story. Or at least what the government claims it to be. The Modi government has been celebrating Jan Dhan Yojana as a massive win, claiming it brought over 53 crore people into the formal banking system.

Sounds great, right?

But, as a new report points out, the numbers aren’t exactly what they seem. Sure, millions of accounts were opened, but many are now inactive. In fact, India’s at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to active bank account usage among middle-income countries.

Not exactly the success story we’ve been sold.

The report digs into the details, and here’s the kicker: the rush to open accounts without thinking about actual usage has created a big gap between supply and demand. People have accounts, but they’re not using them.

Now, when this is read with out earlier investigation on poverty reduction – where the government used the same Jan Dhan accounts data to claim reduction in poverty – it reveals the Modi government’s illusion of financial inclusion as a driver of poverty reduction.

And as The Collective’s Shreegireesh Jalihal shows in this story, it’s all smoke and mirrors.

Click here to read.

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Furquan Ameen
Editor