Financial literacy is crucial to digitzed India. One talks of paper-less transactions but on the ground one find people who lack economic understanding. ‘Jan Nivesh Abhiyaan’ has taken up the responsibility to promote Financial Literacy among the masses through CFA – the Chartered Financial Analysts.
Society India an NGO with an impressive track record is organising Jan Nivesh Abhiyaan – an initiative on cycles, from 15th to 29th of November. The 14-day tour would be flagged off simultaneously from Gurugram and Mumbai.
While interacting exclusively with Tehelka – Director of the CFA society Mr Rajendra Kalur explores on various financial aspects and goals of the NGO.
Q. Tell us something about CFA and how it is promoting financial literacy in the society?
– The CFA Society India, established in April 2005, is an association of local investment professionals, consisting of portfolio managers, security analysts, investment advisors and other financial professionals who promote ethical and professional standards within the investment industry in India. In its endeavour to promote Financial Literacy to the masses through various
strategies like ‘Jan Nivesh Abhiyan’.
Q. How did you get the idea of popularizing your initiative through cycling expedition?
Mass mobilization is the surest way to success. This is the basic mantra we are working on in order to popularize investment.
Cycling expedition is conceived because it’s still seen as a means of transportation for the common folks in rural India.
Q. How far the initiative will go to bolster investors confidence in the current heart sinking economic situation?
We are on a track to attain $5 trillion economy. The only stumbling block we currently encounter is the lack of financial literacy. According to Standard and Poor’s Global Financial Literacy Survey 2016, India holds the 121st rank among 150 countries, with an overall financial literacy of 24%. We have been working hard to create awareness and enlighten people about the nitty gritty of investment and finance. This is the idea behind Jan Nivesh Abhiyaan.
Q. Analysts portray gloomy scenario. Don’t you feel this would attract little attention as most of the people reel through dire economic straits?
Despite numerous odds, we still believe every cloud has a silver lining. That’s why our experts have devised simplified way to make people understand economic parameters.
Usually finance and fiscal terms sound like economic jargon. We tried our best to simplify and making these people friendly. We will encourage them to learn finance in their own language in order to become better and smarter investors.
The expedition members of CFA will teach them the fundamentals of investments as well as the need for life insurance, and terms related to the capital markets in various languages.
Q. What encouraged you to undertake such expedition?
Jan Nivesh Abhiyaan is greatly influenced by the government’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), launched in 2014. Because of the PMJDY, the poorest of the poor were able to open bank accounts. Now, we want them to be aware about the importance of life insurance and capital investments.
