Develop a National Gender Action Plan

[mouakter13]

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) program, launched in 2014, has been one of the most critical steps undertaken by the government of India to improve financial inclusion in the country. The program’s mission requires all banks to offer basic savings deposit accounts, helping to ensure basic financial inclusion for all—including women. To date, PMJDY has proven to be a game-changer, not only in terms of financially including a higher proportion of the population, but also in terms of reducing the gender gap in account ownership. As of April 13, 2022, 451 million PMJDY accounts have been opened, of which 55.6% belong to women. According to data from FINDEX, 76.6% of women in India were financially included in 2017, with the gender gap in account ownership dropping to 6% – down from 20% in 2014. And this momentum has extended to rural regions of the country, with an estimated 80.7% of women owning bank accounts in 2021 – compared to 88.1% of men.

However, despite this progress, India’s campaign to boost women’s financial inclusion still faces considerable challenges. Though we currently have no public data that shows the proportion of inactive women PMJDY accounts, we know from the FINDEX 2017 data that 54% of women account holders reported not using their account in the past year, as cambodia whatsapp number dataopposed to 43% of male account holders. Hence, there is not only a substantial gender gap in account ownership but also in account usage.

PMJDY’s blanket approach to financial inclusion has contributed to these gaps. The mission’s mandate is to bring India’s entire population under the ambit of the country’s banking infrastructure – a goal that’s easier to accomplish when the target group is homogenous. But in India, as in other nations, the target group for financial inclusion is characterized by several variations, including not only gender, but also other factors like age, education level and the rural-urban divide. Unfortunately, PMJDY has not taken these differences into account. For example, it hasn’t focused on communicating the need for women to have individual accounts, despite overarching gender norms in India that suppress women’s individuality. It also has not specifically identified measures to make access points more gender-sensitive, which is a critical part of ensuring that first-time female users develop confidence in using formal banking and become regular users. The gender outcomes achieved through PMJDY – both the overall growth in inclusion and the persistent gaps in enrollment and usage– are a consequence of its tendency to overlook women’s unique needs while targeting the entire population at large.

For providers to ensure balanced gender outcomes in any social development intervention, a more equitable approach is essential. As India pursues its National Strategy for Financial Inclusion 2019-2024, it must work to make financial services available, accessible and affordable to all its citizens, both safely and transparently, and to support inclusive and resilient growth. To achieve this, the country will need to work proactively to bridge the gender gap in financial inclusion – not only in terms of account access and ownership, but also in terms of actual use. Below, we’ll explore four things India can do to better enhance the financial inclusion of women.