Every fourth Jan Dhan account is inoperative, while 5.72 crore have zero balance: RTI

Every fourth account opened under India's flagship financial-inclusion scheme is inoperative, while nearly 5.72 crore accounts have no money in them, according to a government response to a Right to Information request.

The Department of Financial Services told activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur that India had 59,03,74,907 accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana as of August 12, 2026. Together, they held ₹3,15,179.90 crore. The figures included 32.89 crore accounts held by women, including transgender account holders, and 26.14 crore held by men.

The response recorded 5,72,35,490 zero-balance accounts and 15,36,77,009 accounts classified as inoperative. Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of zero-balance accounts, at 95.92 lakh, followed by Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Maharashtra. It also led in the total number of Jan Dhan accounts, with 10.51 crore, ahead of Bihar's 7.01 crore and West Bengal's 5.73 crore.

The scheme began in August 2014 as the National Mission for Financial Inclusion. It aims to give every household access to banking, financial literacy and social-security coverage through at least one basic bank account.

The RTI reply, dated September 1, said the Centre did not centrally maintain gender-specific data on account balances, zero-balance accounts or inoperative accounts. It also lacked central figures for accounts holding less than ₹100, accounts closed in the previous five years, and accounts blocked or frozen because of suspected transactions or cyber fraud. The state-level data covered 36 states and Union territories.