New Delhi, May 27 (KNN) The Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) of NITI Aayog is set to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of four major financial inclusion schemes run by the Department of Financial Services under the Finance Ministry.

The schemes to be evaluated include the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) for affordable access to banking services, the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) for affordable life and accident insurance cover, and the Stand Up India (SUPI) scheme to promote entrepreneurship.

The proposed evaluation aims to assess the outreach, impact and efficacy of these schemes for the targeted beneficiaries.

For the banking and insurance schemes, the review will focus on aspects like access, usage, claim settlement and adequacy of coverage amounts.

For SUPI, the impact on job creation and economic empowerment will be evaluated.

DMEO has invited bids from entities to conduct this evaluation exercise over six months.

It will involve comprehensive primary and secondary research including surveys, scrutiny of scheme documents, parliamentary reports and third-party assessments.

A key objective is to identify gaps and suggest improvements in scheme design and implementation to enhance outcomes and expand coverage of these flagship financial inclusion initiatives.

The reference period will be from the inception of each scheme till date. While PMJDY was launched in 2014, PMJJBY and PMSBY began in 2015, followed by SUPI in 2016.

This evaluation exercise underscores the government's commitment to periodically review its programmes and boost their effectiveness in benefitting the underprivileged and unbanked sections of society.

(KNN Bureau)