Government Schemes

📊 Government Schemes — At a Glance (2026)

1 PMJDY

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), launched on 28 August 2014 as India's National Mission for Financial Inclusion, provides every Indian citizen (aged 10+) universal access to a zero-balance Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) account.

Key Features

• Zero-balance account — no minimum balance requirement.
• Free RuPay debit card with built-in ₹2 lakh accidental insurance cover.
• Overdraft facility up to ₹10,000 after 6 months of satisfactory account operation.
• Access via USSD (*99#), enabling banking even on basic (non-smart) phones.
• Forms the base of the "JAM Trinity" (Jan Dhan + Aadhaar + Mobile) that powers Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

2 PMJJBY

Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), launched on 9 May 2015, is a one-year, renewable term life insurance scheme offering ₹2 lakh cover on death due to any cause (natural or accidental).

• Eligibility: Age 18-50 at entry (cover renewable up to age 55).
• Premium: ₹436 per year (revised from ₹330, effective 1 June 2022) — the first-ever revision since the scheme's 2015 launch.
• Auto-debited annually from the linked savings account; cover year runs 1 June to 31 May.
• A 30-day waiting period applies to non-accidental death claims for fresh enrolments.

3 PMSBY

Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), also launched on 9 May 2015, is a personal accident insurance scheme — it does not cover death from natural causes/illness.

• Eligibility: Age 18-70.
• Cover: ₹2 lakh for accidental death or total (permanent) disability; ₹1 lakh for partial disability.
• Premium: ₹20 per year (revised from ₹12, effective 1 June 2022).

PMJJBY vs PMSBY — Quick Comparison

4 APY

Atal Pension Yojana (APY), launched on 9 May 2015 and regulated by PFRDA, guarantees a fixed monthly pension of ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 from age 60, targeted at unorganised-sector workers without access to formal pension coverage.

• Entry age: 18-40 years; contributions continue until age 60.
• Since 1 October 2022, income-tax payers are barred from enrolling in APY, refocusing the scheme on its intended low/middle-income target group.
• The scheme's funding window has been extended through FY 2030-31.
• APY had crossed 9 crore subscribers as of April 2026.

5 MUDRA

Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY), launched 8 April 2015, extends collateral-free credit to non-corporate, non-farm micro/small enterprises across four tiers — Shishu, Kishore, Tarun and the newest Tarun Plus (up to ₹20 lakh, for proven repeat borrowers). See our MSME guide for the full breakdown of all four categories, refinance mechanics and guarantee cover.

6 Stand-Up India

Stand-Up India, launched 5 April 2016, mandates every scheduled commercial bank branch to sanction at least one composite loan (₹10 lakh-₹1 crore) to an SC/ST borrower and one to a woman borrower, for greenfield enterprises. Budget 2025-26 added a parallel push offering up to ₹2 crore to 5 lakh first-time SC/ST and women entrepreneurs. Full detail is in our MSME guide.

7 Start-Up India

Start-Up India, launched 16 January 2016, builds India's innovation ecosystem through DPIIT recognition — unlocking the Section 80-IAC tax holiday, angel-tax relief, patent-fee rebates and the ₹10,000 crore Fund of Funds. See our MSME guide for full eligibility criteria and benefits.

8 PM SVANidhi

PM SVANidhi (PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi), launched 1 June 2020 by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), provides collateral-free working-capital loans to urban street vendors in progressive tranches.

• 7% per annum interest subsidy on timely repayment, credited quarterly to the borrower's account.
• Cashback on digital transactions, encouraging vendors onto UPI/digital rails.
• Loans are covered under a CGTMSE guarantee — genuinely collateral-free for the vendor.
• PM SVANidhi 2.0 (Cabinet approval 24 July 2025) extended the scheme to 31 December 2027 and added a RuPay credit card facility up to ₹30,000.

9 PM-KISAN

PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), launched 24 February 2019 (with retrospective effect from 1 December 2018), provides direct income support to small and marginal landholding farmer families.

• ₹6,000 per year, paid in 3 equal instalments of ₹2,000 each, roughly every 4 months.
• Disbursed via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) straight into the farmer's bank account — no intermediaries.
• Administered by the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare; mandatory e-KYC verification to weed out ineligible/duplicate beneficiaries.
• By mid-2026 (around the 23rd instalment), cumulative disbursement had crossed ₹4.4 lakh crore to crores of farmer families nationwide.

10 Financial Inclusion Initiatives

Beyond individual schemes, RBI and the Government track and drive financial inclusion through several overarching initiatives:

✓ Key Takeaways

• PMJDY (2014): ~59 crore accounts, ₹3.17 lakh crore deposits, ₹2 lakh accidental cover, ₹10,000 overdraft.
• PMJJBY, PMSBY and APY were all launched together on 9 May 2015; PMJJBY/PMSBY premiums were revised upward for the first time in June 2022 (₹436 and ₹20 respectively).
• APY excludes income-tax payers since October 2022; funding extended to FY 2030-31.
• MUDRA, Stand-Up India and Start-Up India remain the flagship enterprise-credit schemes — see our dedicated MSME guide for full detail.
• PM SVANidhi 2.0 extended the scheme to December 2027 and added a RuPay credit card facility.
• PM-KISAN provides ₹6,000/year to small/marginal farmers in 3 instalments via DBT.
• RBI's Financial Inclusion Index reached 70.0 in March 2026, up from 53.9 at its 2021 launch — a clear, quantifiable measure of India's inclusion progress.

📝 Top 50 JAIIB-Style MCQs on Government Schemes

Test your understanding with these 50 practice MCQs, closely modelled on the pattern expected in the upcoming JAIIB (IE & IFS) exam — including combination-answer questions just like the real paper. Each question has 5 options — the correct answer is hidden by default; tap "Show Answer" to reveal it along with a short explanation.