Under the guidance of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Central government’s financial schemes have significantly outperformed targets in eight aspirational districts of Uttar Pradesh.

As per the quarterly report of the State Level Bankers Committee, recently presented to Chief Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra, schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) have collectively exceeded their target by 332 per cent.

Notably, the State Level Bankers Committee is a forum that acts as a bridge between various banks, other financial institutions, and the Central and state governments. This forum reviews the progress of various development programmes through quarterly meetings and prepares strategies to meet set targets. In Uttar Pradesh, the forum is coordinated by the Bank of Baroda.

The state has eight aspirational districts where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath personally monitors development schemes. These districts are Bahraich, Balrampur, Chandauli, Chitrakoot, Fatehpur, Shravasti, Siddharthnagar and Sonbhadra.

To implement development schemes effectively and transparently, the state government and the State Level Bankers Committee provide several financial services in these districts. These districts have performed excellently in schemes like PMJJY, PMSBY and APY. Notably, Fatehpur exceeded the national benchmark for APY (2,886 beneficiaries per lakh population) by achieving 9,578 beneficiaries, which is 332 per cent more than the target.

In Atal Pension Yojana (APY), against the target of 2,886 beneficiaries per lakh population, Bahraich achieved 4,399 beneficiaries (152 per cent), Balrampur 4,559 (158 per cent), Chandauli 5,013 (174 per cent), Chitrakoot 6,717 (233 per cent), Fatehpur 9,578 (332 per cent), Shravasti 3,182 (110 per cent), Siddharthnagar 4,563 (158 per cent), and Sonbhadra 4,251 (147 per cent).

Looking at the performance of the aspirational districts, Bahraich achieved 13,977 beneficiaries in the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJY) against a target of 9,772 per lakh population, which is 143 per cent. Similarly, Balrampur achieved 8,183 (84 per cent), Chandauli 7,980 (82 per cent), Chitrakoot 14,681 (150 per cent), Fatehpur 13,537 (130 per cent), Shravasti 11,955 (122 per cent), Siddharthnagar 8,854 (91 per cent), and Sonbhadra achieved 12,663 beneficiaries per lakh population, which is 130 per cent of the target.

Similarly, in the case of Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Bahraich achieved 25,866 beneficiaries (85 per cent) against the target of 30,303 beneficiaries per lakh population, Balrampur 23,611 (78 per cent), Chandauli 32,521 (107 per cent), Chitrakoot 38,037 (126 per cent), Fatehpur 35,664 (118 per cent), Shravasti 20,318 (67 per cent), Siddharthnagar 29,411 (97 per cent) and Sonbhadra achieved 26,692 (88 per cent).

According to Sameer Ranjan Panda, convener of the Uttar Pradesh State Level Bankers Committee and general manager of Bank of Baroda, the performance is expected to improve further under the saturation of eligible accounts under the Jan Suraksha Yojana in the Jan Suraksha Saturation Campaign launched by the government.