It is a widely known fact that women are thrifty by nature, but by becoming wisely economical in financial matters will make them smarter. With this aim, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in co-ordination with Choti Si Khushi, an NGO based in Dwarka, organised a workshop on Saturday to raise financial awareness among women. Women from different sections of the society and belonging to different age groups and academic background participated in the programme in large numbers.
"The Government launches many schemes especially for women, but they are unaware of any such initiatives. This programme aims to raise awareness about banking, insurance and investment schemes to make them financially literate," said one of the organisers of the financial literacy programme.
She told Radio Dwarka that women who attended this programme get to know each other and learn from each other's mistakes, experiences and knowledge. "It fosters a sense of belonging," she said.
Anita, who attended the programme, said she got to know a lot more about banking services. "I came to know that we can avail loan facilities to finance our children's education. I was unaware of such a loan."
Another school going girl Preeti said, "One must invest money wisely. While getting an insurance policy, one must put a nominee's name. It will ensure that benefits are passed on to the nominee in case of any untoward incident."
"We are not an educated lot, but this programme helped us get a lot of information regarding money. There are many fake saving options that we come across but today on, I will be careful before investing in any such scheme. It may dupe me of my hard-earned savings. I will warn others as well," said another woman who attended the programme.

Shillpi A Singh, Siddhant Jai Saxena and Sunny Kumar,
Radio Dwarka,
India's First Online Community Radio,
Tuesday, June 28, 2016