'Digital Sakhi' to enhance financial literacy of 9 lakh people
Bengaluru: The L&T Financial Services (LTFS) announced the inauguration of its Digital Sakhi project in Karnataka on Wednesday. The flagship CSR project of the Company – 'Digital Sakhi' - trains and nurtures rural women, who in turn promote women entrepreneurship and Digital Financial Literacy (DFL) in their communities.
The inauguration of the project in Karnataka follows the success of the Digital Sakhi projects implemented in the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and West Bengal. Since its inception in 2017, Digital Sakhi projects have created a cadre of 960 Digital Sakhis who have helped upskill over 5,500 women entrepreneurs. In FY22 alone, Digital Sakhis trained and empowered more than 8.60 Lakh people across 5 states on DFL. Through, the project in Karnataka, LTFS endeavours to create a cadre of over 300 Digital Sakhis as digital enablers, who, in turn, will impart DFL trainings to over 9 Lakh community members covering topics like digital modes of payments, access to government entitlements, goal-based savings, etc. In addition, the project aims to support over 3,000 women entrepreneurs in establishing and scaling their micro-enterprises through upskilling and enterprise-development trainings.
The Managing Director and CEO L&T Finance Holdings, Dinanath Dubhashi said, "Many of our retail businesses directly engage with rural communities giving us an all-encompassing view of customers' needs, including the gaps that exist within the community. Our Digital Sakhis have effectively helped empower rural communities they operate in by promoting digital financial inclusion, providing impetus to women empowerment and gender equality, thereby strengthening the nation at the grassroot level and contributing to the overall national development agenda." Speaking on the occasion, the Executive Director, Access Livelihood Foundation, G V Krishnagopal said, "Economic inequalities and social prejudices have denied women equal footing and opportunities. The effort is to introduce cutting edge solutions in financial inclusion with the right social architecture where rural women themselves will champion the cause is transformative.