Financial Literacy Taken to Remote Corners of India

by | 10/30/13 | Commentary, Uncategorized

Financial literacy professionals are buzzing over news of HDFC Bank’s announced initiative bringing financial education and formal banking services to remote areas within India.  The program will consist of “financial literacy camps” that will be offered in rural bank branches in Chhattisgarh, followed by locations in more than 20 over villages.  Of HDFC Bank’s thirty-seven branches in Chhattisgarh, twenty-four are based in rural regions.

The financial education camps are designed to provide individuals and families a basic understanding of financial services and products through the use of materials developed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).  RBI’s curriculum is available in both Hindi and English so that the program’s participants can use the resources in either language with which they are most comfortable.

One of the distinguishing elements in the materials developed for this initiative is its inclusion of notes for trainers, including standards, parameters and guidelines regarding how to conduct the camps.  This is expected to ensure that the program is offered in a consistent manner across each location.  Among the topics to be covered for participants are budgeting, saving, money management, how to use banks for greater personal finance success, and a broad range of other related subjects.

This effort by HDFC Bank is part of their larger commitment to get 10 million families (50 million Indians) into the country’s financial services institutions. The bank, and many financial institutions in the country, recognize the importance of financial literacy as an essential element of financial inclusion, as financial education results in greater levels of empowerment for individuals and families that, in turn, lead them to a more successful financial life.  Other countries already are taking notice of these developments in India and, as a result, it is widely expected that financial literacy programming will follow in other remote regions of developing countries in the months ahead.

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