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Sikkim Inaugurated The Week Long Financial Literacy Week Organised By RBI

Opportunity India Desk
Opportunity India Desk Feb 21 2022 - 5 min read
Sikkim Inaugurated The Week Long Financial Literacy Week Organised By RBI
Honourable Governor Ganga Prasad Chaurasia inaugurated the weeklong Financial Literacy Week 2022 organised by Reserve Bank of India, Gangtok at Mayfair Resort in Ranipool.

Reserve Bank of India has been annually organising the Financial Literacy Week throughout the Nation from February 14 till 18 of the same month since 2016. The theme for this year is “Go Digital, Go Secure” which aligns with one of the strategic objectives of the National Strategy for Financial Education 2020-2025.

The Honourable Governor was accompanied by Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Sikkim cum Chairman, SLBC Sikkim, Dr. K. Jaya Kumar, ADC to the Governor (Army), Major Sandeep Mishra, ADC to the Governor (Police), Manish Kumar Verma, Superintendent of Police, CB-CID, Sikkim, Tenzing Loden Lepcha, General Manager and Officer-in-charge, NABARD, Dr. Diwakar Hegde, GM-SBI and SLBC Convenor, Ashok K. Mahakul, and GM and Officer-in-charge, RBI, Kishore Pariyar, along with a host of other government officials and bankers.

Honourable Governor Ganga Prasad shared the importance of financial literacy at the grassroot level. He urged everyone to assure that accurate information regarding government policies and digital finance options and security should be disseminated, in order to establish awareness and understanding amongst all individuals in the State.

He further requested people to approach banks and consult with officials to clarify their doubts about the digital finance system and gain a better understanding about safety and security regarding digital transactions.

Additional Chief Secretary cum Chairman, SLBC Sikkim, Dr. K. Jaya Kumar, complimented the efforts made by banks with the support of the State government for extending assistance to the people of Sikkim in the digital finance system. He also expressed gratitude to the Governor for his initiative regarding the opening of Raj Bhavan premises for public viewing. Dr. K. Jaya Kumar also remarked that the State Government has strongly extended its support to popularise Udyam registration in Sikkim.

He highlighted the significance of financial literacy and inclusion and added that the economically deprived section of the society needs to be served without any discrimination for making the equity accessible for all.

Superintendent of Police, CB-CID, Sikkim, Tenzing Loden Lepcha, briefed the gathering on the various aspects of cyber security and cyber fraud that comes along with speeding digital developments. Cyber crimes like identity theft, phishing, and other hacking activities designed to scam people out of money have been increasing on an alarming rate and the way to fight against these crimes is through prevention, and awareness.

He informed about Mission SAFAI (Sikkim Against Fraud Action Initiative) an initiative launched by the Sikkim Police in 2020,that projects about different methods and techniques used to deceive people, through short animated videos in both English and Nepali languages. He added that six such awareness videos based on different frauds are made till date and the Sikkim Police aims at creating more of such videos for distribution to the masses with the support and coordination of all the banks in Sikkim.

Lepcha also stressed on the importance of strictly vetting KYC documents by banks in order to avoid usage of mule accounts by criminals to launder money from vulnerable citizens. He expressed his hopes to work in tandem with the stakeholders in ensuring proactive work towards Mission SAFAI so that innocent people do not have to lose their hard earned money to fraudsters.

General Manager and Officer-In-Charge of RBI Gangtok, Kishore Pariyar, briefed the house about the three messages of this year’s Financial Literacy Week:

(a) Convenience of digital transactions,

(b) Security of digital transactions and

(c) Protection to customers.

He said that the rise of digitalisation in formal financial services, increased accessibility to technology enabled gadgets by the citizens has a wonderful potential to support financial inclusion measures being undertaken by the Government and RBI through various policy measures.

Digital Financial Services bring the following features:

(a) Anywhere, Anytime Transactions,

(b) Interoperability and

(c) Building of transaction histories that can be meaningfully used to improve access to credit and relevant financial services to various target groups, he added.

As part of the Financial Literacy Week activities, RBI Gangtok will disseminate the information and create awareness among various bank customers and public through the through a series of Nukkad Nataks, financial literacy van, radio jingles, posters etc. that the RBI Gangtok has planned across the various districts during FL week.

 

Further there will be a mass media campaign during the months of February and March this year to broadcast essential financial awareness messages on the local radio stations of Sikkim.

The event was also addressed by General Manager SBI, Ashok K. Mahakul, wherein he deliberated on the key parameters of digital banking, its access, usage and quality. Likewise, General Manager and Officer-in-charge, NABARD, appraised the house on the linkage of local products with E-commerce.

RBI Gangtok presented mementos to Governor Ganga Prasad and ACS, Dr. Jaya Kumar along with tokens of appreciation to the ADCs to the Governor, Major Sandeep Mishra and Manish Kumar Verma, SP CB-CID Sikkim, Tenzing Loden, NABARD GM O-i-C, Dr. Diwakar Hegde, SBI GM, Ashok Mahakul, Managing Director (SISCO), Pema Chenzom, Regional Manager (SBI), S.D. Lama, and Lead Bank Manager (SBI),  Gopal Lama.

The inaugural programme concluded with the flagging off of a mobile van from the Mayfair premises for Financial Literacy campaign. A Nukkad Natak with messages on digital transactions and crimes was also performed.

On the occasion, the RBI Gangtok also handed over backpacks to the children of Child Care Institute Home of Bojoghari through the hands of the Governor.

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