New Delhi, Aug 28 (PTI): The government is now making direct transfer of Rs 74,000 crore to around 35 crore beneficiaries using Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile (JAM) platform, Finance minister Arun Jaitey said on the third anniversary of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) on Sunday.

He said that soon in the country, one billion unique Aadhaar numbers will be linked to one billion bank accounts and one billion mobile phones.

“Once that is done, all of India can become part of the financial and digital mainstream,” Jaitley said in a Facebook post.

He said that total PMJDY accounts increased from 12.55 crore in January 2015, to 29.52 crore in August 2016.

The number of rural accounts opened under PMJDY have grown from 7.54 crore in January 2015, to 17.64 crore as on August 2016.

Jaitley said that zero balance accounts under PMJDY declined from 76.81% in September 2014, to 21.41 % in August 2017.

In March 2014, women constituted about 28% of all savings accounts, with 33.69 crore accounts. As of March 2017, according to data from top 40 banks and RRBs, women’s share has risen to about 40%. This share includes 14.49 crore accounts opened by women under PMJDY, out of a total of 43.65 crore women’s accounts. This represents a sizeable and rapid growth in financial inclusion of women.