Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said, India aims to utilise bank accounts created under Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana to extend insurance, pension and credit facilities to those excluded from these benefits. <br/><br/>He said this in a statement in New York as the country joined a UN initiative to enable nations transition to electronic payments. <br/><br/>The announcement comes on the first anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship financial inclusion programme Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).<br/><br/>Jaitley said in the statement that the scale of ambition of Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana has been much higher than for any other financial inclusion initiative in the past. He added that the project has been instrumental in bringing almost all families of the country into the formal financial system and enabling citizens at grassroots level to<br/><br/>perform financial transactions and keep their hard-earned money safe. <br/><br/>He said that India has been recognised by the Guinness World Records for opening over 1.8 crore bank accounts in a week.<br/><br/>Taking a step closer to becoming a cashless economy, India has joined the 'Better Than Cash Alliance', a United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) initiative that helps enable countries transition to electronic payments.<br/><br/>According to a statement released in New York by the alliance, the new partnership with the Better Than Cash Alliance, made up of governments, companies, and international organisations, is an extension of Indian Government's commitment to reduce cash in its economy.