India's reading and writing skills may have improved sharply, but its grasp of money still lags far behind. Government figures put the literacy rate above 80 percent, yet the share of people who are financially literate is still stuck at around 27 percent. As the need for investing and retirement planning keeps rising, so does the demand for people to understand financial matters. The catch is that smaller cities suffer from a serious shortage of such knowledge, even as the number of investors there climbs steadily. To bridge that gap, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has teamed up with a Patna company to start a financial education push for ordinary people.
SIDA Services, a Patna-based mutual fund distributor registered with the Association of Mutual Fund Industry (AMFI), has launched an Investor Learning Centre to promote financial literacy and investor education. The centre was inaugurated by Nimesh Shah, Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund. On the same occasion, SIDA Services also began the pilot run of its financial literacy initiative called ‘Paisa Ki Pathshala’. The aim is to explain personal finance, long-term investing and family financial planning to investors in a simple, structured and conversational style.
Conversation, not a classroom
Learning sessions here will be held for small groups of 15 to 20 people. What sets them apart is that they will run like a discussion with questions and answers, rather than a classroom lecture. The topics will include estate planning, inflation, systematic investing, credit discipline, retirement planning and family financial decision-making. Each session will last roughly 45 to 75 minutes and will be followed by an interactive round of questions and answers, where people can openly raise their doubts.
Small towns, a big share of SIPs
The entire effort rests on the belief that investors need to be made more aware. Data from the National Centre for Financial Education shows that only 27 percent of people in India are financially literate. At the same time, the share of those putting money into mutual funds is now spreading well beyond the big cities. As things stand, 54 percent of active SIP accounts come from B-30 cities. The organisers say Bihar is a strong example of this shifting trend. People here are showing plenty of interest in systematic investing, but they commit only after they find the right and trustworthy option.
A different lesson for every age
Sanjeev Dayal, founder of SIDA Services, says investment education should reach right up to where people live and make their financial decisions. According to him, the goal of the learning centre is to create a comfortable setting where individuals and families can ask questions without hesitation, understand money matters and make smarter choices. For young people, the centre covers regular investing through SIPs, budgeting and credit behaviour. For working professionals and families, the discussions turn to inflation, goal-based planning, financial security and family financial planning. For older investors, the topics include building a retirement fund, planning a regular income and estate planning.
