New Delhi: A nationwide financial inclusion saturation campaign begins today, October 21, and will run until December 31, 2026, covering about 2.70 lakh gram panchayats and urban local bodies across India, the Department of Financial Services (DFS) under the Finance Ministry announced in a Press Information Bureau release (Release ID 2325230, October 19, 2026).

During the campaign, banks will organise camps at the panchayat and town level to find people who are still outside the formal banking system and enrol them on the spot. The camps will open Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts for eligible uncovered residents, enrol people in the PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) life insurance and PM Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) accident insurance schemes, and sign up subscribers for the Atal Pension Yojana (APY), which guarantees a monthly pension from the age of 60. Camps will also complete pending Re-KYC, update nominations in savings accounts, help with Aadhaar seeding, and run awareness sessions on digital-payment fraud and safe banking, The Economic Times reported.

A preparatory meeting with senior bank management and the State Level Bankers' Committees was held on October 19 under the Joint Secretary (Financial Inclusion), DFS, and progress during the campaign will be monitored by state administrations, the banks and the DFS, the release said. At an earlier review meeting, Financial Services Secretary Sanjay Lohiya had urged public and private sector banks to participate wholeheartedly in the campaign and to focus on marginalised sections, PTI reported.

The drive is aimed at taking the remaining uncovered households into bank accounts, low-premium insurance and pension cover through a single outreach programme, rather than leaving enrolment to individual branch visits.

(Sources: Press Information Bureau, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, October 19, 2026; The Economic Times, October 20, 2026; PTI reports)