Home Credit India (HCIN), a local arm of the leading global consumer finance provider, recently concluded its Financial Literacy CSR initiative "Saksham", educating nearly 30,000 marginalized women & girls as beneficiaries in collaboration with implementation partner, Indian Development Foundation (IDF), a private non-profit organization. Project Saksham was a 9-month financial literacy initiative carried out from July 2022 till March 2023.
The core objective behind Saksham financial literacy project is to impart basic financial education among marginalized women & girls to empower and enable them to make informed financial decisions. Saksham project covered nearly 30,000 women (including girl students, homemakers, maids, and daily wage earners) through 605 financial literacy workshops conducted primarily in north (Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi NCR), west (Maharashtra) and east (Bihar, West Bengal) regions of the country. As Project Saksham included 30% girl students over the age of 15 years, it got the leverage of falling under the Financial Literacy program under NEP implemented since 2020.
Speaking on the success of Saksham project, Ashish Tiwari, Chief Marketing Officer, Home Credit India, said, "In India and globally, financial literacy is far behind general literacy and amongst women it is at dismal levels. For Home Credit India, Financial Literacy is one of the key ESG pillars and we are working on it by promoting financial and digital literacy to drive a 'responsible borrowing culture' in the society. We are happy to have successfully completed the first phase of Saksham project in collaboration with the Indian Development Foundation and this is just the beginning to empower & enable marginalized females in our society to attain financial skills that will instill confidence and help them take their personal and household financial decisions."
As a responsible consumer lender, Home Credit India believes basic financial knowledge & skills are essential for individuals to manage personal finance and make informed decisions. Saksham's curriculum for financial literacy workshop covered topics such as budgeting, savings, credit worthiness, and investment planning.
Speaking on the project implementation, Dr. Narayan Iyer, CEO, IDF, said, "Financial literacy has become the need of the hour especially with the government's focus upon the penetration of financial inclusion in the country. By targeting marginalized women, we have begun financial education from the bottom of the society, which will create a sound foundation in spreading its relevance to the wider society. Beneficiaries attending our literacy workshops have given a resounding response, with requests for more such regular trainings and to include males of the family for a bigger impact. IDF has been working on education & skill development for decades and with Home Credit's persuasion of promoting financial literacy in the country, our synergies are in line to take this initiative much more ahead."
According to the National Centre for Financial Education (NCFE), promoted by RBI and other financial regulators, India has a literacy rate of nearly 80% of its population, however, only 27% of its adult population is financially literate and for women, this number is around 21%.
As part of the financial literacy initiatives, Home Credit India has also engaged with over 3 million people through its in-house 'Paise Ki Paathshala' microsite, blogs and social media campaigns. Home Credit has always believed in the power of technology and digital innovation to foster financial inclusion and accessibility to all.
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