Imagine a future where every high school student learns about the importance of account updates and digital safety; where every village workshop trains families to check their bank and insurance records, where every retirement plan includes awareness about how to pass on wealth securely. That vision of informed, financially literate citizens is the only sustainable way to ensure that India’s wealth stays in the hands of its people

Somewhere in the vaults of Indian banks, insurance companies, mutual funds and pension accounts, lies a silent fortune, money that belongs to no one and yet to everyone. This is not the stuff of mystery thrillers or economic anomalies; it is the reality of India’s unclaimed funds crisis.

Every rupee lying forgotten in these dormant accounts tells a story of misplaced documents, of families unaware of their entitlements, of lives that have been disrupted by migration or death and of a nation that is still to make financial literacy a way of life.

The latest figures are staggering - nearly Rs.1.84 lakh crore of unclaimed financial assets is currently idling across the financial system in banks, with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), insurance firms, mutual funds, and provident fund (PF) accounts. To put that in context, this is not state-owned money or lost revenue; it is the legitimate wealth of Indian citizens and their families. When these funds remain untouched for over ten years, they are transferred to repositories like the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund, where they earn only minimal annual interest. The value of this wealth, instead of growing for its rightful owners, diminishes in real terms.

This vast pool of idle money has finally prompted institutional introspection and policy action. The RBI, in recent months, has ramped up public outreach campaigns with advertisements declaring, ‘Forgotten money in your old bank accounts? RBI will help you recover what is yours.’

Such efforts mark an important shift from passive oversight to proactive engagement. The central bank’s introduction of the UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits - Gateway to Access Information) portal represents a major leap forward. By offering a centralized platform to locate forgotten or unclaimed deposits across multiple banks, UDGAM simplifies a process that was previously opaque and scattered. The initiative forms part of the government’s three-pronged strategy of ‘awareness, access and action’, an acknowledgment that a solution to unclaimed funds is not just in retrieval but in prevention. Yet, technology alone cannot solve what is essentially a social and behavioural challenge.

The primary reason India’s unclaimed wealth keeps growing is not fraud or administrative neglect but a chronic lack of financial awareness. Financial literacy in India remains abysmally low and its absence manifests in everyday decisions, from failing to update addresses after relocation to ignoring the importance of account nominations and wills.

A person may open a savings account or invest in a life insurance policy but a change in circumstances like marriage, job transfer or death, tend to sever the link between the individual and the institution. When heirs remain unaware of an asset’s existence or are deterred by complex paperwork and bureaucratic hurdles, legitimate wealth is lost to memory and system inertia.

The challenge is particularly acute in rural India and among older citizens, where limited access to digital tools and formal financial systems adds to the problem.

For many, the process of claiming an account like gathering documents, proving identity and navigating legal channels, becomes so arduous that they simply abandon the effort.

Even among educated urban populations, financial planning is often confined to earning and spending, with little attention to succession planning or record maintenance. The result is a vast and growing reserve of unclaimed money; a mirror held up to a society that has not yet learned to manage its wealth with foresight.

This is where India’s National Centre for Financial Education (NCFE) must emerge as the decisive catalyst for change. Established by the country’s financial regulators - the RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA, the mission of NCFE is to implement the National Strategy for Financial Education (NSFE) and foster financial capability across every demographic. It already runs impactful initiatives such as the Financial Education Programme for Adults (FEPA), Financial Education Training Program (FETP), Financial Awareness and Consumer Training (FACT) and Money Smart School Program (MSSP), which aim to integrate financial awareness into everyday life. Its work extends from classrooms to community halls, reaching farmers, self-help groups, women’s collectives and young professionals alike. However, the time has come for this mission to expand from being an educational program to becoming a national movement.

The NCFE’s role is not just to teach people how to budget or invest but to build a culture of financial mindfulness, one that encourages citizens to track their assets, maintain documentation, and ensure succession through nominations and wills.

Imagine a future where every high school student learns about the importance of account updates and digital safety; where every village workshop trains families to check their bank and insurance records, where every retirement plan includes awareness about how to pass on wealth securely. That vision of informed, financially literate citizens is the only sustainable way to ensure that India’s wealth stays in the hands of its people.

Financial literacy must no longer be treated as an optional life skill or a topic for annual seminars. It is as fundamental as reading and writing as a necessity for personal empowerment and national progress. Without it, citizens remain vulnerable not only to bureaucratic oblivion but also to digital frauds and cyber scams that exploit ignorance and complacency. Towards this, the government and financial institutions must therefore work hand in hand with schools, community leaders and civil society organizations to integrate financial education into the social fabric.

The unclaimed funds lying across India’s financial system represent more than monetary loss, but they symbolize the cost of collective inattention. Every forgotten account and unredeemed policy reflects a gap in awareness, a failure in communication and a missed opportunity to secure financial futures. As RBI’s UDGAM portal and public campaigns begin to illuminate this dark corner of the economy, the message is clear: recovering what is lost is important but preventing loss through knowledge is indispensable.

A financial literacy revolution, driven by institutions like the NCFE, can ensure that no Indian’s wealth slips into oblivion again.

The challenge is monumental, but so is the reward, a nation of informed citizens, capable of managing, protecting and transferring their wealth with confidence.

India does not need to merely trace forgotten money; it must build a generation that never forgets where its money is. Only then will the silent scandal of unclaimed wealth give way to a culture of awareness, accountability, and true financial inclusion.

(Dr Biswal is founder of prominent NGO, Supporting Shoulders)