District-level camp held under nationwide campaign “Aapki Poonji, Aapka Adhikar” at Kathua

• DC calls for proactive settlement of unclaimed deposits

KATHUA: A mega district-level camp under the nationwide campaign “Aapki Poonji, Aapka Adhikar” was today organised by the Lead Bank Office Kathua in coordination with financial stakeholders. The campaign was launched by the Finance Minister on October 04, 2025 and is underway from October to December 2025 to facilitate the settlement of unclaimed funds regulated by RBI, MCA, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA.

Deputy Commissioner Rajesh Sharma attended the event and called upon all financial institutions to ensure proactive outreach for tracing rightful claimants. He emphasised that the campaign is a crucial step towards empowering citizens to reclaim their long-pending financial dues. He appreciated the coordination among banks and urged them to maintain momentum to achieve timely settlement of unclaimed accounts.

The event was also attended by Deputy General Manager RBI, Vibha Gupta, Regional Manager State Bank of India, Ankur Sharma, Regional Manager J&K Bank, Parshottam Lal, along with officials from LIC, PNB MetLife, Bajaj Allianz, SBI Life and branch managers of various banks.

Deputy General Manager RBI Vibha Gupta briefed participants about the 3A Strategy—Awareness, Accessibility and Action—being followed nationwide. She informed that the UT of J&K has 17,20,878 unclaimed accounts amounting to ₹465.79 crore, with Reasi district alone accounting for 94,598 accounts worth ₹20.68 crore. She urged banks to actively trace depositors or legal heirs to expedite settlements. She also explained the RBI “Scheme for Facilitating Accelerated Payout – Inoperative Accounts and Unclaimed Deposits”, offering incentives of up to 7.5 percent of the account balance or ₹25,000, whichever is lower, for settlements between October 01, 2025 and September 30, 2026.

During the camp, citizens were sensitised about the claim process, required documents and settlement procedures. A live demonstration of the RBI UDGAM portal was provided to help participants trace unclaimed deposits transferred to the DEA Fund and understand the bank-wise settlement workflow.

The banks set up facilitation counters offering services including re-KYC of due accounts, opening of new accounts including PMJDY, enrolment in social security schemes such as PMJJBY, PMSBY and APY, nomination updates and grievance redressal. A total of 41 beneficiaries and legal heirs were handed over cheques amounting to approximately ₹3.78 lakh after completion of required formalities.