:The Central Government’s financial schemes have significantly outperformed targets in Uttar Pradesh’s eight aspirational districts.

As per the quarterly report of the State Level Bankers Committee, recently presented to Chief Secretary Durga Shankar 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 percent, officials here on Friday said.

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 programs 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 (2886 beneficiaries per lakh population) by achieving 9578 beneficiaries, which is 332 percent more than the target.

In Atal Pension Yojana (APY), against the target of 2886 beneficiaries per lakh population, Bahraich achieved 4399 beneficiaries (152 percent), Balrampur 4559 (158 percent), Chandauli 5013 (174 percent), Chitrakoot 6717 (233 percent), Fatehpur 9578 (332 percent), Shravasti 3182 (110 percent), Siddharthnagar 4563 (158 percent), and Sonbhadra 4251 (147 percent).

Looking at the performance of the aspirational districts, Bahraich achieved 13977 beneficiaries in the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJY) against a target of 9772 per lakh population, which is 143 percent.

Similarly, Balrampur achieved 8183 (84 percent), Chandauli 7980 (82 percent), Chitrakoot 14681 (150 percent), Fatehpur 13537 (130 percent), Shravasti 11955 (122 percent), Siddharthnagar 8854 (91 percent), and Sonbhadra achieved 12663 beneficiaries per lakh population, which is 130 percent.

Similarly, in the case of Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Bahraich achieved 25866 beneficiaries (85 percent) against the target of 30303 beneficiaries per lakh population, Balrampur 23611 (78 percent), Chandauli 32521 (107 percent), Chitrakoot 38037 (126 percent), Fatehpur 35664 (118 percent), Shravasti 20318 (67 percent), Siddharthnagar 29411 (97 percent), and Sonbhadra achieved 26692 (88 percent).

According to Sameer Ranjan Panda, the 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.