Objective of IFLC 2019

Obviously, small businesses and Women in India, more than in anywhere in the world, need exposure to financial literacy in good measure as an intervention for attaining high GDP growth of India necessary to meet its aspiration to achieve 5 trillion dollar economy by 2025. The challenges in imparting financial education are innumerable as there is no structured training at school/college level. The objective of the India Financial Literacy Conclave 2019 being organized by AWOKE India Foundation and Lucknow Management Association is to deliberate on these challenges and on how financial literacy could be leveraged for women, Farmers & MSMEs to achieve this ambitious National goal. 

Agenda...

Inaugural Session

Session I: Integrating Financial Literacy with Skill Development

Government has a massive on-going skill development programme which focuses on improving vocational skills of youth. Including financial literacy in the curriculum could be one of the interventions.There could be basic exposure in schools on things like Budgeting, Responsible Shopping, Planning Events with Financial Discretion, Understanding Difference between Needs and Wants and Developing Saving Habits etc.The session will deliberate on how financial literacy could be integrated with skill development so that it can benefit both self-employed and employees of businesses 

Session II: Financial Literacy for Small Businesses:

Financial literacy is very important for entrepreneurs because of the knowledge of budget management, procedures, credit management, and even the financial risks of business operations. Financial Education can help Small Businesses to manage better. There is a diverse range of investment options available other than FDs, property and gold like debt and equity instruments, mutual funds etc. to help small businesses to meet their goals. There are benefits and pitfalls of each which the entrepreneur needs to understand. For educating Small Business owners on Financial Management a curriculum needs to be developed and an effective channel developed to reach out to beneficiaries with this knowledge. One small way could be through structured programs to meet financial literacy needs could be run by Entrepreneurship Development Institutions. The session will address innovative ways to take Financial Literacy of Small Business forward. 

Session III: Promoting Financial Literacy of Farmers:

In a country in which a very large proportion of population is engaged in farming, financial literacy of farmer is critical.Learning to manage money well is an important skill. Limitations in literacy and numeracy, coupled with a lack of access to financial services, can make acquiring these skills difficult for small farmers, but they are vitally important. The idea is to promote a philosophy of "Talking about Money" as opposed to the traditional assumption that all small farmers need to improve their lives is credit. Taking a loan without understanding his cash flow, evaluating his risks is a recipe for failure in terms of money management. The farmer often becomes victims of reckless lending by some of the banks, which ultimately affected his repayment capacity. RBI and NABARD have developed Financial Literacy programs for Farmers. This session will deliberate on strategies to execute on this enormous challenge. 

Session IV: Empowering Women with Investor awareness & financial skills:

OECD and other studies show that women investors have lower financial matters understanding than men in both developed and developing countries. Specific groups of women-young women, widows, the less educated and low-income women-tend to lack financial knowledge the most. Women require investor awareness to manage their personal and household finances as well as to develop and manage entrepreneurial activities. Since women live longer than men, and have shorter working lives in paid employment and lower average incomes from which to save for old-age, they need to be sufficiently financially literate to manage the greater financial risks that they face. They need to know what financial services and products are at their disposal and which ones are appropriate to them for their economic empowerment. The session will deliberate on questions like Do women in India have fewer financial skills than men and if so, why; what skills do women need to be financially empowered; and how this task can be accomplished.