UPSC CSE Current Affairs — 9 July 2026

Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), India's national financial inclusion mission launched on August 28, 2014, completed seven years of implementation in 2021. As of recent data, the scheme has over 53 crore beneficiary accounts with total deposits exceeding ₹2.3 lakh crore. Women account holders constitute approximately 55% of total accounts. Over 36 crore RuPay debit cards have been issued. The scheme provides zero-balance accounts, accidental insurance cover of ₹2 lakh, and life cover of ₹30,000.

PMJDY was conceived as the foundation of India's JAM Trinity — Jan-Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile — the architecture that enabled Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to leak-proof government welfare delivery. Before PMJDY, an estimated 40% of Indian adults had no formal bank account, severely limiting credit access, insurance penetration, and government subsidy targeting.

The scheme operates on a 'bank-mitra' (Business Correspondent) model, extending banking services to unbanked villages through human touchpoints rather than physical branches — critical for India's geography. Each account comes with a RuPay debit card, an overdraft facility of up to ₹10,000 (for accounts older than six months with satisfactory conduct), accidental insurance cover of ₹2 lakh, and a life cover of ₹30,000 for eligible new account holders.

PMJDY's macroeconomic significance became starkly visible during COVID-19 when the government transferred ₹500/month directly to over 20 crore women Jan-Dhan account holders under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana — a feat impossible without this infrastructure. It also enabled LPG subsidy rationalisation (PAHAL), MGNREGS wage payments, and PM-KISAN transfers.

For RBI Grade B, the linkage between PMJDY and monetary transmission matters: banked households are more responsive to interest rate signals and formal credit. For UPSC GS3, PMJDY exemplifies technology-driven inclusive growth — but challenges persist: dormant accounts, last-mile connectivity gaps, and thin financial literacy remain structural concerns.

India's Index of Industrial Production (IIP) currently uses 2011-12 as its base year, maintained by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). A long-overdue revision to 2022-23 is under discussion to better capture structural shifts—rise of electronics, pharmaceuticals, and green energy—while reducing the weight of legacy sectors. The IIP covers 407 items across mining, manufacturing, and electricity, with manufacturing holding an 77.6% weight in the composite index.

The IIP is India's primary high-frequency indicator of industrial activity, released monthly with a six-week lag. Its relevance hinges entirely on the base year remaining a realistic reflection of the economy's structure. The current 2011-12 base is over a decade old: India's manufacturing landscape has changed dramatically since then—IT hardware, EV components, and specialty chemicals have grown, while traditional textiles and basic metals have relatively declined. An outdated base distorts policy signals. If a sector that has shrunk retains a high weight, industrial growth appears weaker than reality; conversely, a booming sector with low weight makes growth look muted. This matters for RBI's monetary policy decisions, government's fiscal stimulus targeting, and investor sentiment. Base revision is not just a statistical exercise—it involves reselecting the item basket, recalibrating weights using the Annual Survey of Industries and National Accounts data, and harmonising with international standards like UNIDO's ISIC Rev 4. India has historically lagged on this: the shift from 2004-05 to 2011-12 base came after years of delay. For UPSC, the key issue is institutional quality—why do revisions get delayed, who bears the cost of policy decisions made on stale data, and what governance reforms can make statistical agencies more agile and independent.