Bridging The Gap: Evaluating The Impact Of Pmjdy On Financial Inclusion Among Women Workers In Bengaluru's Unorganised Sector

Abstract

In emerging economies like India, financial inclusion is considered as a critical element of inclusive economic growth and gender equity. Since its launch in 2014, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has served as the Government of India’s leading initiative to access banking services, mainly among unorganized segment. Even though PMJDY has significantly expanded formal financial access on a macro level, this study seeks to explore its actual impact on women workers in the unorganised sector of Bengaluru. This study is based on survey data collected from 172 women workers engaged in informal employment across various low- income communities in Bengaluru. The research aims to assess the role of PMJDY in facilitating meaningful financial inclusion, as measured by account ownership, regular usage, digital banking adoption, and decision-making autonomy. The study evaluates how variables such as education level, financial literacy, family support, and personal autonomy influence account activity and engagement with financial services using chi-square tests, Pearson correlation, binary logistic regression, and Structural equation modelling.

The findings reveal a significant relationship between financial literacy and active account usage, while decision-making autonomy and family support also emerged as key predictors. Women with better financial awareness and supportive household environments were likely to use their PMJDY accounts independently. As the access to bank accounts is now nearly universal among the respondents, usage patterns is closely tied to socio-cultural and educational factors. These results emphasize the need for integrated, gender-sensitive interventions that go beyond access and focus on enabling sustained usage through capacity building, peer mentoring, and community-level trust-building measures. The study highlights the transformative potential of PMJDY when complemented by bottom-up empowerment strategies, and it calls for policy refinements to enhance the scheme’s impact on the financial independence and well-being of women in India’s informal economy.