New Delhi, June 11 -- The central government is gearing up to launch a sweeping drive across 500 districts to return unclaimed financial assets, ranging from dormant bank deposits and unpaid dividends to lapsed insurance policies and pension funds, to their rightful owners, a person familiar with the matter told Mint.

The initiative was proposed by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the 29th meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) held in Mumbai on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by senior officials from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), and Pension Fund Re...