Mangaluru: Unclaimed deposits lying with banks in Dakshina Kannada amount to Rs 140 crore, of which Rs 20 crore was returned to rightful owners under the ‘Your Money, Your Right’ initiative, said district lead bank manager Kavitha N Shetty.She was addressing the district-level review committee (DLRC) and banking development committee meeting held at the Zilla Panchayat Hall on Wednesday. Dakshina Kannada MP Capt Brijesh Chowta, who chaired the meeting, stressed the need for greater public awareness of unclaimed deposits lying in dormant bank accounts. He directed bank managers to proactively reach out to customers within their jurisdictions to clear pending claims and sensitise account holders about the issue.RBI AGM Arun Kumar said unclaimed deposits across Karnataka stood at Rs 3,400 crore. A state-level review meeting was held in the first week of Dec. Nearly 80% of inactive accounts hold balances below Rs 1,000 and are over 10 years old, while around 70% lack valid phone numbers, making it difficult for banks to contact depositors.Explaining the regulatory framework, Arun Kumar said the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund scheme was instituted by the RBI to manage deposits that remain unclaimed for 10 years or more. The RBI has also introduced incentives for banks to settle unclaimed deposits, and simplified procedures for releasing deposits of deceased account holders. The UDGAM portal, he said, enables depositors to search for unclaimed balances.Kavitha Shetty said banks in the district opened 20,769 Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts between April 1 and Sept 30. During the same period, 25,564 accounts were enrolled under PMJJBY, 52,239 under PMSBY, and 16,668 under the Atal Pension Yojana (APY). Banks that recorded poor performance under PMJJBY, PMSBY, and APY were advised to improve enrolment. Capt Chowta directed all banks to submit a detailed action plan to enhance APY enrolment to the lead bank immediately, and asked the lead bank to follow up the same.Nal Jal Mitra programmeDistrict Skill Development officer Pradeep D’Souza said the Nal Jal Mitra programme, implemented by the ministry of Jal Shakti in collaboration with the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship under the Jal Jeevan Mission, trained 161 women from Sanjeevini Okkutas in plumbing and water supply system maintenance. He said 72 toolkits and certificates received from the govt were symbolically distributed to the trained women by the MP during the programme.Capt Chowta released a poster for the district-level job fair ‘Viveka Udyoga 2026′, to be held in Puttur on Feb 21.
