• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasized the need to enhance financial inclusion
• Enrolments under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana have surged by 699%
• These initiatives aim to provide greater financial security and accessibility to the masses.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that financial inclusion efforts need to be increased. She highlighted the necessity to improve customer experience for banking products. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday underlined the urgency of further enhancing financial inclusion efforts by incorporating the masses under their umbrella.

Steering a meeting to assess the performance of government's financial inclusion schemes viz. PMJDY, PMSBY, PMJJBY, APY, PMMYY, SUPI, PMSVANidhi, PM Vishwakarma, PM Surya Ghar Yojana, KCC, PM Vidyalaxmi and CGTSME, she emphasized upon extending better customer experience in all banking services.

The meeting was graced by the presence of Secretary, Department of Financial Services, and DFS's senior officers. The mandate of the Department of Financial Services extends to the operation of banks, financial institutions, insurance companies and the National Pension System (NPS).

At the same time, the total enrolments under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) a life insurance scheme have jumped by a staggering 699 per cent since 2016. Rolled out on May 9, 2015, PMJJBY had bridged the dismal fact that merely 20 per cent of India's population was covered by any kind of insurance.

PMJJBY provides a life cover of Rs 2 lakh on the death of the subscriber due to any reason  natural or accidental in return for an annual premium of a mere Rs 436.

Until March 19, 23.36 crore persons have been enrolled under PMJJBY. In the decade, the scheme settled 9,37,524 claims out of which 9,05,139 claims were settled successfully, releasing the total amount of Rs 18,102.78 crore.

In contrast, the aggregate enrolments under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMBSY), an accident insurance programme has risen by 443 per cent, since 2016. The programme offers financial security and cheap protection in the event of accidents and loss of lives at merely Rs 20 annually.

Introduced in 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana has become the fulcrum of the government's drive to bring financial security to the people.

Through reforms in infrastructure, innovation, and financial inclusion, India is going from strength to strength in being a principal source of economic activity in the world.