The Financial Literacy Camp welcomes our guests, the GEMS and BUPS of two schools in Umroi, the teachers, the two village headmen, youths of Umroi and our main speaker-the bank manager of the SBI Bank, Miss Vellorica. I, Marba opened the program. The welcome speech was given by the principal of the UMUPS, Miss D.S spoke a little and the rest was handed to Miss Vellorica. The bank manager appealed to the GEMS and BUPS that are still studying first. She explained to them the concept of saving money in a bank so the money can serve them well in the future. She gave them an example using their own lives. “Do you receive money from your uncles and aunties when they come visit you?” To which they replied “Yes, we do.” But in a few minutes they also disclosed that the money goes away very quickly. She encouraged them to open a bank account, put in the money and save it up. The form for open a bank account was distributed and the program for the GEMS and BUPS came to a close.
Miss D.S: Then the program for the youths started. The bank manager opened with information on different trainings particularly Agricultural and Farming since Umroi is a farming village. She further explained that there the training is for a short duration in another village, lodging and food will be available for free. On completion of the training, they will avail a certificate which will help in applying for a loan. To my observation, the youths did not seem that interested but we hope for the best.
Another bank official took over the program, he explained on the different loans to start self employment in small enterprises. A minimum loan of ₹20,000 ($239.42) can be applied for to start their enterprises.
The Question and Answer round started but no youth had a question, probably because they were shy. So yours truly, put up her hand and stated “We have been training women in a sewing class which is a part of the GEMS project, some have even learnt to tailor basic clothing. And the women told me that they did not own sewing machines and wanted to know what could be done to further their skill. Could they apply for a loan? That is my question to you, the bank official.” He replied. “Yes they can apply for a loan of ₹20,000 and they can purchase a machine.”
One question arose, “Would a youth be able to take out a loan without a formal training certificate from a recognised institution?” He replied “Yes, a loan can be applied with a reference letter with a signature or a letter from the village headman.”
That’s how the camp ended. We wrapped things up with a Thank you. We all had tea and food provided by the Bank.
