APART launches financial advisory service for farmers

 STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART) launched Krisarthak-an assignment on financial education and counselling (FEC) of farmers, on Tuesday at the Assam Administrative Staff College, Khanapara with an aim to enhance inclusion of the farm community and encourage responsible use of financial services and products by them.

Along with education, Krisarthak will bring the financial advisory service at the doorstep of every farmer, using digital means. This personalized advisory service will help farmers plan, manage and invest money to optimize their financial growth. The programme will also incorporate Farmers' Financial Health Survey and generate Financial Health card for households. The programme aims to reach the APART project beneficiaries in 24 districts of Assam and augment their inclusion in the available financial ecosystem during the year 2022 to 2024.

This assignment will be implemented by a consortium of partners namely the New Delhi-based Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) along with the Fair Climate Fund (FCF), the Indian Institute of Bank Management (IIBM) and the Council for Social and Digital Development (CSDD).The pilot phase of Krisarthak will be implemented during January to March 2023 where the ICT tools will be tested among 5,000 farmers in 5 districts of Assam. The final rollout is slated for May, 2023.

The event began with a lamp lighting ceremony and an overview of Krisarthak delivered by Dr Syed.S.Kazi, the team leader for the assignment. The inauguration of Krisarthak took place in the presence of Ajai Nair, Senior Financial Sector Specialist, World Bank and, Akash Deep, SPD, ARIAS Society. Nair in his address highlighted that Krisathak will be one of the most unique digital based financial literacy programmes in India as it will strive to provide financial education and counseling using digital tools and platforms. This in turn will also digital literacy among farmers and help them access digital banking facilities with more confidence.

Akash Deep, SPD, ARIAS Society, while speaking about the assignment, added that Krisarthak would engage over 2.50 lakh farmers in just a period of two years. This massive reach will be diligently tracked through Information Communication Technology (ICT) tools for making sure that the programme bears result and gets translated into growth in demand and uptake for financial products and services from the farm community.

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