A Staff Reporter
Dimapur, March 21
The Purana bazar branch of the Nagaland Rural Bank conducted a financial literacy camp at Naharbari village in Dimapur on March 21. The camp was part of a series of financial literacy events to be conducted by the Nagaland Rural Bank. The camps are supported by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NBARD) under the Financial Inclusion Fund.
Residents of Naharbari attended the camp. The primary objective of the event was to sensitize citizens about the benefits of banking and various financial services and assistance provided by the banks.
The senior manager of the Nagaland Rural Bank, Aokeyi Ao, said during the camp that the activities of the bank were ‘going on at par with other nationalized banks.’ While highlighting various schemes of the bank, he said that the primary objective of the Nagaland Rural Bank was to reach out to the people. Nonetheless, he said that citizens should also ‘put in efforts’ to avail the schemes, he said.
The Nagaland Rural Bank rendering banking services to the people and farmers across the state of Nagaland, the senior manager said that the bank was involved in other activities such as formation and monitoring of Self Help Groups, Kishan Club (farmers’ club) and conducting banking workshops and campaign through self-help groups.
The bank official also explained that the Nagaland Rural Bank was one of the 18 regional rural banks sponsored by State Bank of India. The state bank is providing support and guidance to the NRB, Ao said, and that the bank was proactively involved in the formation of farmers’ club and self help groups. It is offering credit linkage to community groups especially in the rural and semi-urban areas, he said.
The Nagaland Rural Bank is also working in close collaboration with the sponsoring bank, the TSta Bank of India, NBARD, and other rural development agencies in providing financial services and credit linkage to urban, semi-urban, rural and unbanked areas in Nagaland.
Ao informed the participants to contact if farmers or nongovernmental organizations were interested in forming farmers’ clubs or self-help groups. They may contact the nearest branch for guidance. The next financial literacy camp by the Nagaland Rural Bank will be conducted on March 23 at the Burma Camp branch.
Financial Literacy
Financial literacy is the ability to understand how money works in the world: how someone manages to earn or make it, how that person manages it, how he/she invests it (turn it into more) and how that person donates it to help others.
More specifically, it refers to the set of skills and knowledge that allows an individual to make informed and effective decisions with all of their financial resources. Raising interest in personal finance is now a focus of state-run programs in countries including Australia, Canada, Japan, the United States and the UK.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) started an inter-governmental project in 2003 with the objective of providing ways to improve financial education and literacy standards through the development of common financial literacy principles.
In March 2008, the OECD launched the International Gateway for Financial Education, which aims to serve as a clearinghouse for financial education programs, information and research worldwide. In the UK, the alternative term “financial capability” is used by the state and its agencies: the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK started a national strategy on financial capability in 2003. The US Government also established its Financial Literacy and Education Commission in 2003.
(Source: Wikipedia)
