Gandhinagar: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a three-month-long nationwide awareness campaign, named ‘Aapki Punji, Aapka Adhikar’ (your money, your right), regarding unclaimed assets in the financial sector.
This campaign is aimed at helping people trace and claim their unclaimed deposits, insurance payouts, dividends, shares, and mutual fund proceeds. Unclaimed financial assets have been a long-standing issue, and the campaign seeks to simplify the process for citizens by offering on-the-spot guidance, demonstration of digital tools, and support to complete claim procedures.
During the launch, Sitharaman handed over cheques and claim orders to citizens who had successfully reclaimed their money. In her address, the minister urged people to spread the message regarding this campaign.
“I urge you all to become ambassadors of this campaign, reach out to people you know, ask if they hold any papers of unclaimed financial assets, and guide them to register on the portal to claim what is rightfully theirs,” Sitharaman said.
The finance minister said that the campaign’s success lies in fulfilling the three “A”s – Awareness, Access, and Action. “If the three ‘A’s are fulfilled, the money lying in safe custody can be rightfully claimed by the people with proper documents,” she explained.
Sitharaman also recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s advice to take this initiative directly to the people.
“I am very grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who once advised me to go among the people and call upon them to claim what is rightfully theirs. Acting on his advice, I am glad to share that Gujarat has taken the lead in launching this campaign,” she said.
“With concerted efforts from all – the Finance Ministry, regulators, state governments, and banks in villages – if the entire chain is activated, everyone will be able to reclaim their money. This is not only our assurance, but also our duty,” she added.
The campaign launch was attended by Kanu Desai, finance minister of Gujarat and M Nagaraju, secretary, Department of Financial Services.
As per an official release, the initiative has been launched by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, Government of India, in coordination with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
The Centre is committed to ensuring that every rupee saved by citizens can be rightfully claimed by them, or by their legal heirs and nominees. The campaign will encourage people to participate actively, spread awareness, and strengthen financial inclusion in every household. It seeks to empower citizens by providing clear information on how to trace and claim their rightful money, supported by Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) developed by the respective fund regulators, to make the process simple and transparent, the statement added.