Financial inclusion a top priority for govt, says Union Minister Thakur

Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur on Thursday said financial inclusion is a top priority for the government and that promoting financial education would help in realising the collective potential.

He was speaking at a virtual event to launch six modules of short films of Investor Education & Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) titled 'Hisaab Ki Kitaab', according to an official release.

Thakur is the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs.

IEPFA comes under the corporate affairs ministry.

The mandate of IEPFA is to build investor awareness among various stakeholders in the rural and urban areas. Due to the digital global community, the urban-rural divide in India is blurring. Yet the behaviour change in the rural populace with respect to investment and long term financial planning needs to be triggered, the minister said.

Noting that financial inclusion is one of the top-most policy priorities for the government, Thakur said promoting and deepening financial education would play a very important part in our endeavour to realise our collective potential.

Corporate Affairs Secretary Rajesh Verma said these short films developed by CSC eGov in an interesting format will help the rural populace to understand the importance of basic concepts of budget, savings, various government and how to save themselves from Ponzi schemes.