Current Affairs

Nationwide financial inclusion saturation campaign from 21 Oct to 31 Dec – 2.70 lakh gram panchayats and urban local bodies

21-10-2026 · English

Nationwide financial inclusion saturation campaign from 21 Oct to 31 Dec – 2.70 lakh gram panchayats and urban local bodies

Topics: Economy · 21 October 2026 Current Affairs (UPSC / TNPSC / SSC / RRB)

News

A nationwide campaign by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Union Finance Ministry, to saturate financial inclusion schemes runs from 21 Oct 2026 to 31 Dec 2026. Camps will be held across about 2.70 lakh gram panchayats and urban local bodies. It covers opening Jan Dhan accounts, enrolment in PMJJBY, PMSBY and Atal Pension Yojana, Aadhaar seeding, re-KYC of accounts, updating nominations, awareness on digital frauds and on unclaimed financial assets ('Aapki Poonji, Aapka Adhikar'), Kisan Credit Cards for PM-Kisan beneficiaries, and crop insurance for the Rabi season. The Finance Ministry announced it on 19 Oct.

Key facts

Period21 Oct – 31 Dec 2026
Run byDepartment of Financial Services, Finance Ministry; through State Level Bankers' Committees
CoverageAbout 2.70 lakh gram panchayats + urban local bodies
SchemesPMJDY, PMJJBY, PMSBY, APY, KCC, PMFBY; re-KYC, nominations
Earlier drive1 Jul – 30 Sep 2025 (same 2.70 lakh GPs/ULBs)
RBI FI-IndexMarch 2026: 70.0 (March 2025: 67.0)

Background

  • Jan Suraksha schemes: PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) – 28 Aug 2014; a zero-balance account with RuPay card for every unbanked household. PMJJBY (₹436 a year, ₹2 lakh life cover, age 18–50), PMSBY (₹20 a year, ₹2 lakh accidental death/disability cover, age 18–70) and Atal Pension Yojana (join at 18–40, pension ₹1,000–5,000 a month from 60; administered by PFRDA) – all three launched on 9 May 2015 in Kolkata.
  • History: 14 commercial banks were nationalised on 19 July 1969. On the advice of the D.R. Gadgil Study Group (Oct 1969) and the Nariman Committee (Nov 1969), RBI introduced the Lead Bank Scheme in Dec 1969 – one lead bank for each district. State Level Bankers' Committees (SLBCs) were set up in 1977.
  • Economy: RBI's Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index, since 2021) is on a 0–100 scale with three parts – Usage (45%), Access (35%) and Quality (20%). It rose to 70.0 in March 2026.

Tamil Nadu link: the convenor bank of Tamil Nadu's State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) is Chennai-headquartered Indian Overseas Bank (IOB); the 187th SLBC meeting in Chennai on 24 Sep 2026 reviewed financial inclusion schemes. This campaign too will be run in the districts through the SLBC.

Source: IANS/Morung Express (19 Oct 2026); NewsBytes; Angel One (2025 drive); Outlook Money (FI-Index); RBI report (Lead Bank Scheme); PSU Connect (SLBC)

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