In a major push towards financial empowerment and inclusivity, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, October 4, 2025, launched a nationwide awareness campaign titled ‘Aapki Punji, Aapka Adhikar’ (Your Money, Your Right) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The initiative, aimed at helping citizens trace and reclaim their unclaimed financial assets, underscores the government’s commitment to ensuring that every rupee rightfully belonging to Indian citizens finds its way back to them.
Reclaiming Forgotten Wealth
The campaign, which will run for three months, is designed to assist people in retrieving unclaimed deposits, insurance claims, dividends, shares, and mutual fund payouts. These funds, often left behind due to death, migration, or oversight, have been lying dormant in banks, insurance firms, pension funds, and stock market entities.
During the launch event, the Finance Minister handed over cheques and claim orders to beneficiaries, showcasing real-life examples of how forgotten or unclaimed financial funds can be reclaimed with the right guidance and support.
“This campaign is not just an initiative—it is a movement,” Sitharaman said. “Everyone should become an ambassador of this mission, reach out to friends and family, and guide them in claiming what is rightfully theirs.”
The Three A’s: Awareness, Access, and Action
The success of the campaign hinges on three pillars—Awareness, Access, and Action, the Finance Minister emphasized. Awareness will drive people to identify whether they or their family members have any unclaimed assets. Access ensures that they know where and how to claim them, and Action is the final step where individuals take necessary measures to retrieve the funds.
“If these three A’s are fulfilled, the money lying in safe custody can be rightfully claimed by people with proper documents,” Sitharaman noted, reinforcing that the system is in place not just to protect but also to return these financial resources to their rightful owners.
Prime Minister Modi’s Vision
The campaign’s origins can be traced back to a suggestion made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who urged the Finance Ministry to take proactive steps in helping citizens reclaim their unclaimed financial assets. Sitharaman acknowledged Modi’s influence on the initiative, stating, “It was his advice that led us to go directly to the people and urge them to claim what is rightfully theirs.”
Gujarat, being the starting point of this campaign, is symbolic as it sets the pace for the rest of the country. Every district across India will be covered in the next three months, ensuring the campaign’s outreach penetrates urban, semi-urban, and rural areas.
Joint Effort by Financial Regulators
The campaign is a collaborative effort involving several major financial regulators and government departments. Spearheaded by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) under the Ministry of Finance, the initiative is supported by:
Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI)
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs
At the Gandhinagar event, Gujarat Finance Minister Kanu Desai, DFS Secretary M. Nagaraju, and senior officials from key financial institutions were also present, signifying the strong inter-agency support behind the campaign.
The regulators have also prepared Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to make the process simple, streamlined, and hassle-free. These tools are expected to eliminate confusion and reduce bureaucratic red tape that often hinders claim settlements.
A Step Toward Financial Inclusion and Transparency
More than just helping people retrieve lost funds, the campaign also seeks to increase financial literacy and inclusion. It aims to educate citizens on the importance of nominating heirs, maintaining proper financial documentation, and regularly updating financial records. This preventive awareness will help reduce the accumulation of unclaimed assets in the future.
The Finance Ministry also views this drive as a trust-building exercise, enhancing transparency in the financial ecosystem and reinforcing the government’s role as a facilitator of citizen rights, not merely a regulator of financial institutions.
An Empowering Opportunity for Citizens
Every year, thousands of crores of rupees remain unclaimed due to a lack of awareness or access. According to various estimates, unclaimed deposits in banks alone are worth over ₹35,000 crore, with similarly large sums held in mutual funds, insurance, and stock-related instruments.
This campaign offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity for citizens to check, claim, and recover wealth that may have otherwise remained forgotten. With the right information and support, countless Indians stand to benefit financially and emotionally by recovering what is lawfully theirs.
Conclusion: Citizens Must Take the First Step
While the government and financial institutions have set the stage, the Finance Minister made it clear that citizen participation is crucial. “This is not only our assurance, but also our duty,” she said, calling on local governments, banks, panchayats, and individuals to ensure no eligible claim goes unnoticed or unclaimed.
The ‘Aapki Punji, Aapka Adhikar’ campaign is more than just a government initiative—it’s a powerful reminder that financial empowerment starts with awareness. With the tools now in place, the onus is on citizens to take the first step and claim what is rightfully theirs.
