DSP BlackRock and Parinaam Foundation empower 4000 women in the lower income segment
Financial literacy workshops for women from 8 states across 24 locations in India to foster better saving and investment habits, open bank accounts and help make informed financial decisions
Chennai, March 14, 2016: DSP BlackRock Investment Managers Pvt. Ltd., one of the premier asset management companies in India, in association with Parinaam Foundation successfully conducted financial literacy workshops to benefit 4,000 women in the lower income segment, educate them about the importance of financial planning and introduce them to basics of financial services. This was part of ‘Winvestor’ - DSP BlackRock’s investor education initiative to inspire and educate women with financial knowledge, enable them to plan for their financial future and make well-informed investment decisions.
The financial literacy workshops with Parinaam were structured as a five module in – classroom training program. The program is designed to empower women from low-income families across India with the knowledge and tools, impressing on them the importance of the need to save, reduce financial risk and make informed financial decisions. The beneficiaries were also made aware of financial services available to them such as budgeting, savings and credit management. The program was conducted in 8 states spread across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha.
Role play, video animations, flipcharts, and financial diaries which are pictorial and colorful were used as part of imparting financial knowledge, thus retaining the attention span of participants during training process. Calculators were provided to beneficiaries to teach basic numerical skills; Financial Diaries to help them track their income and expenses. Saving boxes were provided to every participant to inculcate saving habits for themselves and their children before they are able to open bank accounts.
At the completion of the program, 80% of beneficiaries now not only have savings accounts but have also started availing banking services like usage of ATM, withdrawal, deposits, among others. While 61% of beneficiaries now access cashless loan facilities, 73% beneficiaries availed higher ticket loans from MFI to develop business, improve their housing conditions and fund higher education for their children.
Aditi Kothari Desai, EVP and Head of Sales &Marketing, DSP BlackRock Investment Managers Pvt. Ltd., said, ‘We believe that women are the backbone of society and empowering them with financial skills is an essential step towards making each family financially secure and independent. Participants have expressed great interest and commitment towards learning financial skills, enhancing their knowledge and putting their learning into practice, which has reinforced our commitment in bringing in a positive change among women across all sections of the society.’’
Mallika Ghosh, Executive Director, Parinaam Foundation said, “Through our programs, we strive to make underprivileged women aware of various financial services which can help them to save, manage their day-to-day expense and make well informed investment decisions. Taking a step ahead, we will look to integrate newer methods to deliver the content into the existing financial literacy program to strengthen our mission of financial inclusion.”
