DOI: 10.4018/IJPADA.2017100104
International Journal of Public Administration in the Digital Age
Volume 4 • Issue 4 • October-December 2017
Copyright © 2017, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.
Digital Participation through
Mobile Internet Banking and Its
Impact on Financial Inclusion:
A Study of Jan Dhan Yojana
Khyati Jagani, MICA, Ahmedabad, India
Santosh Patra, MICA, Ahmedabad, India
ABSTRACT
Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi launched a national government project called “Jan Dhan
Yojana”, with the aim of providing banking opportunity and insurance coverage to all the citizens of
India including the under privileged section who until now did not open bank accounts or personal
insurance. The aim of this project is to attract those people with low incomes, who lack knowledge,
who feel they do not need banking service or do not have funds to open an account. The present
study attempts to examine the Indian Financial Inclusion in the context of Individual participation,
through the case of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. The paper aims to understand the consumer
participation and non-participation and its implications as a financial inclusion strategy. The paper
evaluates the impact of digital divide on digital participation of the consumers in the context of
internet and mobile banking service users.
KeywoRDS
Digital Divide, Digital Participation, Financial Inclusion, Jan Dhan Yojana, Mobile Internet Banking
INTRoDUCTIoN
In the past few years the emerging new media has significantly transformed not only human
interactions but also human behaviour. The digital technology is changing the financial services
industry along with the consumption of banking services by its customers. Digital technology with
several benefits also comes with the certain social issue. It has started to create a gap between the
individuals, known as, “digital divide” with regard to the opportunities of attaining communication
and information through the application of internet for range of activities, such as social networking,
online shopping, and mobile banking among others. These presence of digital divide has created a
necessity of financial inclusion of all the members of the society in order to bring a more socially
and financially stable country.
The Government of India along with the Reserve Bank of India has been putting great work in
order to promote and increase financial inclusion in India as one of the key national agenda (RBI,
2015). The key purpose of financial inclusion strategy is to reach to those sections of the Indian society
that has been financially excluded hitherto. According to the 59
th
round of survey results, 51.4% of
farmers in India are not financially included. Out of the entire farmer family unit, only 27% of the
farmers have access to any form of formal credit source, whereas almost 1/3
rd
of the farmers still take
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