Madhya Pradesh CM Criticizes Manmohan Singh Over Zero Balance Bank Accounts
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav took a jab at former Prime Minister and renowned economist Dr. Manmohan Singh during his speech at the Civil Service Meet-2024 of the MP IAS Association on Friday. Yadav criticized Singh for not being aware that bank accounts could be opened with zero balance, despite his distinguished career as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Union Finance Minister, and Prime Minister.
The Union government’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, launched on August 28, 2014, is touted as the largest financial inclusion initiative in the world, and provides for a zero-balance account for every unbanked adult in the country. There are 53.14 crore bank accounts under PMJDY as of August 2024.
Yadav remarked that while Singh held multiple educational degrees and had a long career in finance, he was unaware of the concept of zero-balance accounts. “But a chaiwala knew about it,” Yadav said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who introduced the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) in 2014.
In his speech, Yadav also emphasized the importance of the roles played by the legislature, judiciary, and executive in maintaining the country’s democratic system. He acknowledged the contributions of each branch of government in ensuring smooth functioning.
“Making decisions or offering ideas is easy, but implementing them on a large scale is a challenging task. The efficiency of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers in executing these decisions is commendable,” the Chief Minister concluded.
