Indian Express Editorial Summary

Editorial Topic : Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

 GS-3 Mains Exam : Economy

Revision Notes

Financial Inclusion

• Key tool for reducing inequalities, strengthening livelihoods, and spurring growth.
• India has achieved significant progress, with over 80% of adults having formal financial accounts.
• Gender gap in account ownership has been reduced.
• PMJDY accounts have increased to 53 crore with a balance of Rs 2.31 lakh crore.

Impact of Jan Dhan Accounts

• Positive aspects: insurance coverage, overdraft facility, improved saving habits, decreased thefts.
• Reduced consumption of intoxicants in states with more PMJDY accounts.
• Plugged leakages via direct benefit transfer.
• Contributed to digitalization, e-commerce, and payment systems.

Interventions to Address Barriers to Financial Inclusion

• Strengthen ecosystem and enablers:
  • Promote private-sector involvement.
  • Enhance capacities of individuals and small enterprises.
• Increase penetration of financial products:
  • Unified Lending Interface for efficient credit products.
• Strengthen consumer protection framework:
  • Maintain consumer trust in digital products.
  • Develop inclusive regulations that balance protection and innovation.
• Customer-centric product design:
  • Consider lifecycle needs of customers.

Way Forward

• Explore interlinkage of PMJDY accounts with other government schemes for holistic economic empowerment.

 

 

 

Indian Express Editorial Summary

Editorial Topic : Weather Resilience: Upgrading the India Meteorological Department (IMD)

 GS-1 Mains Exam : Geography

Revision Notes

Need for Upgrade

• IMD’s long-range predictions have improved, but accuracy still falters, especially during monsoons.
• Challenge lies in predicting extreme weather events at hyper-local levels.
• Administrators often caught off guard by unexpected weather conditions.
• Predicting intense rainfall remains difficult due to knowledge gaps.

The Neo Upgrades and Improvements

• Focus on developing computer simulated models tailored to local specifics.
• Data collectors to narrow focus to district, block, panchayat, village, or even ward levels.
• Denser network of measuring instruments.
• AI to improve forecast accuracy based on digitized weather records.
• Tap into research conducted by universities and institutions.

Way Forward

• Train communicators conversant with local economic and cultural idiosyncrasies.
• Disseminate information to the most vulnerable sections of society.