11 February 2026·PIB

Secretary, DFS Chairs Meeting to Prepare Roadmap for Financial Inclusion 2.0

In this note

1. At a Glance

Financial Inclusion 2.0 is the next-generation framework being drafted by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, to move beyond bank-account opening toward universal access, deeper usage, insurance/pension saturation, and credit inclusion [1].
Meeting chaired on 11 February 2026 by Shri M. Nagaraju, Secretary, DFS with RBI, DEA, MeitY, MoRD, MoHUA, MoLE, IRDAI etc. [1].
Relevant for UPSC because it ties together PMJDY, JAM trinity, DBT, digital payments, PMJJBY/PMSBY/APY, RBI's Financial Inclusion Index, and NSFI 2019-24/NSFE 2020-25 [1][3][4].

DFS Secretary chaired an inter-ministerial meeting on 11 Feb 2026 to prepare the roadmap for Financial Inclusion 2.0, covering universal banking access, digital payment adoption, wider insurance and pension coverage, and financial + digital literacy at secondary/sr. secondary school level [1].
Push for at least one bank branch in each subdivision of the North-Eastern Region and bringing the credit-excluded into the formal credit system [1].

2005: RBI introduced No-Frills Accounts — first formal inclusion push.
2008: Rangarajan Committee on Financial Inclusion.
2011: Swabhimaan scheme for unbanked villages (>2,000 pop.).
28 Aug 2014: PMJDY launched as National Mission for Financial Inclusion [2].
2015: Jan Suraksha trio — PMJJBY, PMSBY, APY launched.
2019: RBI's National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) 2019-24 [4].
2020: NSFE 2020-25 (National Strategy for Financial Education) [4].
Aug 2021: RBI Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) launched (base FY2021 = 43.4) [3].
Feb 2026: DFS convenes Financial Inclusion 2.0 roadmap meeting [1].

Nodal body: Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance [1].
Regulators involved: RBI, IRDAI, PFRDA, SEBI [1].
FI-Index (Mar 2025): 67.0 (vs 64.2 in Mar 2024; up 24.3% since 2021) [3].
FI-Index sub-indices: Access, Usage, Quality (Quality includes financial literacy & consumer protection) [3].
PMJDY accounts: 56.16 crore (Aug 2025); deposits ₹2.67 lakh crore; 56% women; ~67% rural/semi-urban [2].
PMJJBY: 22.52 crore enrolled; ₹17,600 cr claims paid (8.8 lakh claims) [3].
PMSBY: 50.54 crore enrolled (as of 19 Mar 2025) [3].
APY: 7.33 crore subscribers (Jan 2025); 89.95 lakh new enrolments FY24-25 [3].
Saturation Campaign: 1 Jul–30 Sep 2025 nationwide drive for PMJDY/PMJJBY/PMSBY/APY [2].

Economic

Shifts focus from account ownership to active usage and credit access; targets the "missing middle" outside formal credit [1].
Deepens digital payments (India accounts for ~49% of global real-time payments per BIS data); strengthens consumption and MSME credit.

Social

Saturation of insurance/pension to informal-sector workers; gender inclusion (women hold 56% PMJDY accounts) [2].
NER focus — branch in every subdivision tackles spatial exclusion [1].

Administrative / Governance

Whole-of-government model: MeitY (digital rails), MoRD (SHGs/NRLM), MoHUA (urban poor), MoLE (workers), Dept. of School Education (curriculum) [1].
Integration with JAM trinity and Aadhaar-enabled DBT.

Scientific / Technological

Leverages UPI, Aadhaar e-KYC, Account Aggregator framework, ULI (Unified Lending Interface), and CBDC (e₹) pilots.
Digital literacy in schools flagged as a new pillar [1].

Legal / Regulatory

Statutory base: RBI Act 1934, Banking Regulation Act 1949, PFRDA Act 2013, IRDA Act 1999, PMLA-KYC norms.
Aligns with NSFI 2019-24 (extended) and NSFE 2020-25 [4].

11 Feb 2026: DFS Secretary chairs FI 2.0 roadmap meeting [1].
Aug 2025: PMJDY completes 11 years; 56.16 cr accounts, ₹2.67 lakh cr deposits [2].
Jul–Sep 2025: Nationwide Financial Inclusion Saturation Campaign [2].
Mar 2025: FI-Index rises to 67.0 [3].
Mar 2025: PMSBY cumulative enrolment 50.54 cr [3].

Department of Financial Services is under Ministry of Finance (not MoCA) [1].
PMJDY launched 28 August 2014; tagline "Mera Khata – Bhagya Vidhata" [2].
FI-Index launched by RBI in August 2021; base year FY 2020-21 [3].
FI-Index has 3 sub-indices: Access (35%), Usage (45%), Quality (20%) [3].
PMJJBY — life cover ₹2 lakh; age 18-50; premium ₹436/yr.
PMSBY — accidental cover ₹2 lakh; premium ₹20/yr.
APY regulated by PFRDA (not RBI/IRDAI) [3].
FI-Index value March 2025 = 67.0 [3].
PMJDY accounts in Aug 2025: 56.16 crore; women share 56% [2].
DFS Secretary in 2026: M. Nagaraju [1].
IRDAI established under IRDA Act 1999; PFRDA under PFRDA Act 2013.
NSFI period: 2019-2024; NSFE: 2020-2025 [4].

GS-II: Government policies & interventions for vulnerable sections; welfare schemes.
GS-III: Indian Economy — inclusive growth, banking sector reforms, mobilisation of resources.
Probable stems: 1. "Financial Inclusion 2.0 marks a shift from access to usage. Discuss the rationale and the institutional challenges." (GS-III, 15 marks) 2. "Evaluate the role of the RBI's Financial Inclusion Index in measuring the depth of inclusion in India." (GS-III, 10 marks) 3. "Examine how the JAM trinity has redefined welfare delivery, and identify remaining gaps that Financial Inclusion 2.0 must address." (GS-II, 15 marks)

PMJDY & JAM Trinity — foundational platform for FI 2.0 [2].
RBI's NSFI 2019-24 / NSFE 2020-25 — policy parents [4].
Account Aggregator framework & ULI — credit-side rails.
Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) — UPI, Aadhaar, DigiLocker — tech backbone.
PMJJBY, PMSBY, APY — Jan Suraksha trio enrolment data [3].
PMMY (MUDRA), Stand-Up India, PM SVANidhi — credit inclusion vehicles.
CBDC (e₹) pilot — future payments layer.
Self-Help Groups (DAY-NRLM) — last-mile inclusion via MoRD.

FI-Index is published by RBI, not NITI Aayog or MoSPI [3].
APY is regulated by PFRDA, while PMJJBY/PMSBY are insurance schemes (LIC/general insurers under IRDAI).
DFS sits under Ministry of Finance, not a standalone ministry.
FI-Index has no base year value of 100 — base FY21 was 43.4; it is a 0-100 scale built from sub-indices [3].
Confusing NSFI (Inclusion, RBI) with NSFE (Education, NCFE/RBI) — different documents [4].
PMJDY was launched in 2014, not 2015; overdraft limit was later raised to ₹10,000.