Guwahati: Marking the sixth anniversary of the 'Jan Dhan' scheme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that the initiative has been a "game-changer" and served as the foundation for many poverty alleviation initiatives.
Singing the same tune, Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal said that more than 7 lakh accounts of people belonging to the tea tribe community were opened, bringing financial inclusion and empowerment.
Assam CM Sonowal shared a tweet in his twitter handle where he wrote: "PM Shri @narendramodi ji's visionary Jan Dhan Yojana has been a blessing for millions of India's underprivileged."
The scheme, which has become the basis of direct transfer of cash subsidy to the poor, was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2014, and was launched on August 28 that year.
After Modi came into power in 2014, this was one of his government's first major projects under which bank accounts of crores of people, mostly poor, were opened.
"Today, six years ago, the PMJDY was launched with an ambitious aim of banking the unbanked. This initiative has been a game-changer, serving as the foundation for several poverty alleviation initiatives, benefitting crores of people," PM Modi tweeted on Friday.
Notably, the government is planning to expand the scheme to provide insurance coverage to PMJDY account holders. "Eligible PMJDY account holders will be sought to be covered under PMJJBY [Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana] and PMSBY [Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana]. Banks have already been communicated about the same," it said in a statement.
ALSO WATCH: #NewsMakers: The Baghjan Saga