As Modi Completes 25 Years in Public Life, a Look at Four Flagship Schemes
Ahead of PM Modi completing 25 years in public life, a review of Swachh Bharat, Jan Dhan, Ayushman Bharat and Digital India and their reported reach and outcomes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will complete 25 years in public life in less than a month. He served as Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and has led the BJP-led Central government since then. Over this period, the Centre has rolled out several large welfare and infrastructure programmes, four of which stand out for their scale.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
The Swachh Bharat Mission was launched in 2014 with the goal of making India open defecation-free within five years. Rural sanitation coverage stood at 39% when the mission began, and rose to 100% by 2019, with more than 10 crore individual household toilets built in the first phase.
As of March 17, 2025, 5,86,788 villages were covered under the programme, of which 5,64,096 had declared themselves ODF Plus. Solid waste management covered around 5,03,585 villages and liquid waste management 5,22,462 villages. More than 600,000 swachhagrahis, or community volunteers, were trained to spread awareness, and toilets were built in schools, anganwadi centres, healthcare facilities, government buildings and other public places.
On outcomes, UNICEF estimates suggest households in open defecation-free villages could save up to Rs 50,000 a year through fewer illnesses and lower healthcare spending, with benefits estimated at 4.7 times the costs. The mission was also estimated to have generated the equivalent of 7.5 million full-time jobs. Soil and groundwater in villages with complete toilet coverage showed lower contamination than in villages with incomplete coverage.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
Launched in 2014, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana set out to bring people without bank accounts into the formal banking system, initially aiming to cover every household. Accounts rose from 14.72 crore in 2015 to 59.09 crore as of August 19, 2026. Of these, 45.95 crore are in rural and semi-urban areas and 13.14 crore in urban and metropolitan areas, while 32.92 crore account holders are women.
Deposits grew from Rs 15,670 crore in March 2015 to Rs 3,16,514 crore in August 2026, an increase of nearly 20 times. By August 19, 41.29 crore RuPay debit cards had been issued to account holders.
Ayushman Bharat
The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana was launched to provide affordable, cashless hospital treatment to those who cannot afford expensive care, and is now operational in all 36 States and Union Territories. It initially covered 10.74 crore families identified as the bottom 40% of the population through the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census, and the beneficiary base was raised to 12 crore families in January 2023.
In March 2024, around 37 lakh additional families of ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers and Anganwadi helpers were brought under the scheme. Coverage was later extended to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, taking in around 6 crore senior citizens from 4.5 crore families. As of June 30, 2026, the scheme had authorised 29.05 lakh inter-state hospital admissions involving more than Rs 8,383.97 crore.
Digital India
The Digital India Programme was launched in 2015 to make government services more accessible through technology and narrow the digital divide between urban and rural areas. Under BharatNet, around 2.15 lakh Gram Panchayats, or nearly 97% of the target, had been connected by January 2026, with close to 7 lakh km of optical fibre cable laid.
India had more than 106 crore broadband internet subscribers by March 2026. More than 6.5 lakh Common Service Centres and 1.6 lakh post offices are providing digital and government services. Aadhaar has crossed 144 crore enrolments, DigiLocker has more than 70.69 crore registered users, and UPI recorded more than 24,162 crore transactions in 2025-26.
The programme has moved many services that once required paperwork and visits to government offices online, while UPI has made instant mobile payments commonplace. Aadhaar, Jan Dhan accounts and mobile connectivity have also eased the direct transfer of government benefits, with more than Rs 51 lakh crore transferred through Direct Benefit Transfers. Through eSanjeevani, patients can consult doctors online, a facility of particular use in rural and remote areas. Platforms such as DIKSHA, SWAYAM and SWAYAM Prabha have widened access to courses, digital textbooks and learning material, while initiatives including PMGDISHA, FutureSkills Prime and Skill India Digital Hub are aimed at building digital and technology skills.