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The Finance Ministry’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) reviewed financial-inclusion schemes and banking access with public- and private-sector bank leaders in New Delhi on 6 October 2026. DFS Secretary Sanjay Lohiya chaired the meeting and urged banks to strengthen digital outreach, process loans end to end digitally, improve awareness and handling of insurance claims, and expand private-bank participation. The official account describes the agenda and directions, but does not publish bank-by-bank results or a consolidated numerical scorecard.
Who attended, and what was reviewed?
DFS says Lohiya chaired the review with heads of all public-sector banks and executive directors of major private-sector banks. The official agenda was broader than the four programs highlighted in the pre-meeting PTI report published by Moneycontrol on 5 October. The next day’s DFS meeting record listed:
- Banking access and inclusion: Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), and brick-and-mortar branches and banking correspondents in unbanked villages.
- Insurance and pension: Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), and Atal Pension Yojana (APY).
- Enterprise and targeted credit: Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY), Stand Up India, PM SVANidhi, PM Vishwakarma, and Kisan Credit Card.
- Energy access: PM Surya Ghar.
The May 2026 Ministry of Finance release describes PMJJBY as life insurance, PMSBY as accident insurance, and APY as a pension program. These descriptions provide context for the agenda; the October meeting record is not a full guide to current eligibility or scheme terms. Ministry of Finance, 9 May 2026.
What did the ministry ask banks to do?
Expand digital outreach and loan processing
Lohiya urged banks to increase digital outreach and focus on end-to-end digital loan processing. The official DFS release quotes him saying, “banks should make efforts for further enhancing their digital outreach and focus on end-to end digital processing of loans.” It also records discussion of working-capital loans for micro-enterprises through channels such as UPI credit lines and credit cards for micro-enterprises (CCME).
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Improve Jan Suraksha awareness and claims handling
The secretary called for greater awareness of eligibility for Jan Suraksha claims and careful handling of claim-related grievances. He also asked banks to enroll new PMJJBY and PMSBY beneficiaries through the Jan Suraksha portal.
Increase private-bank participation
Lohiya urged private-sector banks to step up their participation in financial-inclusion schemes. The release does not specify targets for individual banks.
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What do the published numbers show—and what do they not show?
The Ministry of Finance’s national statistics offer context on the scale of these programs, but they were published before the 6 October review and have different cutoff dates. They are not results from the meeting. The ministry’s 21 July 2026 release reports:
- PMJDY: 58.63 crore accounts and ₹3,08,333 crore in deposits as of 1 July 2026. Women held 32.68 crore accounts, or 55.74% of the total, on that same date.
- PMJJBY: 27.84 crore cumulative enrollments as of 1 July 2026.
- PMSBY: 58.78 crore cumulative enrollments as of 1 July 2026.
- APY: 9.29 crore cumulative enrollments as of 30 June 2026.
- PM MUDRA: 59.14 crore loans worth ₹41.71 lakh crore sanctioned as of 26 June 2026.
- Stand-Up India: 2.75 lakh loans worth ₹62,790 crore sanctioned as of 31 March 2025.
PMJDY is the National Mission for Financial Inclusion, launched in August 2014 to provide universal banking access for unbanked households. The Ministry describes its guiding principles as “banking the unbanked, securing the unsecured and funding the unfunded.”
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The DFS record calls the session a detailed review but does not disclose bank-wise performance figures or a consolidated numerical outcome. It does not establish whether internal measurements were discussed.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What happens next?
The DFS release called on banks to take part in a financial-inclusion saturation campaign scheduled to run from 21 October to 31 December 2026. Those are the dates announced by the ministry at the time of publication; the release does not establish whether the campaign later took place as scheduled or what it achieved.
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