Defeating Poverty - Jan Dhan and Beyond

Book excerpt: It examines why so many years after Independence, India still has a large number of poor and points towards vote-bank politics as a key culprit in choosing poor policy options that could never deliver optimally. Poverty alleviation measures adopted by Narendra Modi during his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat, were a greater success compared to other states. The book identifies the key success factors for financial inclusion – a credit and livelihood based approach as well as a gendered view of inclusion; sustainable development; skill development; financial literacy; push for MSMEs; employment and focus on hygiene and health. Thus, making the Modi model, called ModiNomics, as one of the proven approaches that can take financial inclusion to its logical conclusion. The model comes close to the author’s academic work, understanding of ModiNomics and years of research that has a great potential for its replication nationally. Given that the end-objective of financial inclusion is poverty alleviation, at Skoch Group, we have been unyielding in our advocacy of equitable growth with the three critical elements attached to it: financial, social and digital inclusion. The book proposes a model for bringing all these elements together and also suggests ways for the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana to be financially viable, selfsustaining and emerge as India’s main weapon for defeating poverty.