MUMBAI: What could have turned out to be another political rhetoric, may just turn out to be a profitable business proposition for the government after all. At least, that’s the idea one gets if one looks at government’s financial inclusion related figures in the name of Jan Dhan Yojana accounts.Since its launch in September last year, the share of non-operative or zero balance accounts has slid to 36 per cent from 77 per cent earlier. About 19 crore accounts have been opened with about Rs 27,000 crore balance; it was a meagre Rs 4.27 lakh in 5.37 crore bank accounts more than a year ago, show government data.“The dip in zero account is due to higher cash deposits from West India and rising remittances from Eastern India,” said Soumya Ghosh, chief economic advisor at State Bank of India . “This is a healthy sign, and will empower women in taking independent household decisions.” “With saving deposits balance, banks can now target those healthy accounts offering new products,” he said.India’s banking barometer SBI has conducted a large random sample study of Jan Dhan accounts opened by lenders. Pulak Ghosh, a professor at IIM Bangalore, was also part of the exercise.The survey found faster growth in active accounts across all geographies. At least one transaction takes place in a month in an active account. The average of the number of active accounts has grown 25 times between August 2014 and May 2015.Rural west has triggered most active accounts, followed by the rural north. Semi-urban regions in the east and south are also showing an exponential growth. The bank has also coined “active of the active” accounts where higher number of transactions taking place. The average balance in rural regions has increased to about Rs 2,000 from a mere Rs 250.“With increasing throughput as well as deposit balances, these accounts are likely to become profitable in due course, particularly if credit products are also enabled by persisting balances," said Saugata Bhattacharya, chief economist, Axis Bank "The significant drop in zero balance accounts indicates both increased transfers of central and state government subventions (NREGA, LPG subsidies, etc) via these accounts, as well a development of a savings habit.”Prime Minister Narendra Modi has earned global accolades for such a governmental flagship programme. With rising transactions, the use of indigenous RuPay card and Aadhar-based identification numbers too are deeply entrenched in the system.The government’s financial inclusion drive is now taking deep root, with more people opting for bank transactions than cash dealings, at least the latest data from Jan Dhan Yojana accounts signal that.