In a recent social media post on X, former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram acknowledged the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Jan Dhan Yojana (JDY) by Chief Economic Adviser Anantha Nageswaran but took a pointed dig at the lack of mention of earlier contributions that laid the groundwork for the scheme.

Chidambaram highlighted Nageswaran’s celebration of the JDY’s anniversary, noting the scheme's significant impact, including its current reach of over 53 crore beneficiaries. However, he argued that Nageswaran’s acknowledgment overlooked the critical role played by Dr. C Rangarajan, the then-Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), who introduced the ‘no frills account’ or ‘zero balance account’ initiative.

He wrote, "Mr Anantha Nageswaran, chief economic adviser, is certainly right in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Jan Dhan Yojana

"But should he not have acknowledged the pioneering role of Dr C Rangarajan, then RBI governor, who introduced the
'no frills account' or ' zero balance account'?"

Chidambaram pointed out that millions of accounts were opened under Rangarajan's scheme, which aimed to broaden access to banking services and encourage savings among the underserved population. He also added that the initiative, he spoke about was renamed as Jan Dhan Yojana by the BJP government in August 2014.