Nirmala Sitharaman urges citizens to become ambassadors for 'Aapki Punji Aapka Adhikar' campaign

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday urged citizens to become the ambassdor of 'Aapki Punji Aapka Adhikar' awareness campaign which was launched on Saturday. 'Aapki Punji Aapka Adhikar' (your money, your right) is a three-month-long nationwide awareness campaign on unclaimed assets in the financial sector. The 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. "I want to ask everyone here to become an ambassador for this campaign. Please reach out to your contacts and ask if they have any unclaimed financial assets. Help guide them to register on the portal to claim what is theirs. This way, people like us, like you, and like them will receive much-needed help. I humbly encourage you to inform others about how they can retrieve their rightful money," Sitharaman said during the launch of the campaign.

She further said that the campaign's success lies in fulfilling the three "A"s - Awareness, Access, and Action. "The first A is Awareness, the second A is to give access so that the amount can be recovered. Third is Action where you act on whatever you have and then the authorities who have to extend that to you will have to act. "If the three 'A's are fulfilled, the money lying in safe custody can be rightfully claimed by the people with proper documents," the Finance Minister said.

During the launch event, Sitharaman handed over cheques and claim orders to citizens who had successfully reclaimed their unclaimed money. The Finance Minister 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.

Sitharaman emphasised that collective participation was necessary to ensure success. "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 Gujarat Finance Minister Kanu Desai and Department of Financial Services Secretary M. Nagaraju, along with senior officials from the financial sector. (ANI)

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