FLO Kolkata, under the leadership of Chairperson Ms. Mansi Agarwal, hosted a Financial Literacy & Wealth Awareness Initiative at Topsia Skilling Centre and Chetla Skilling Centre. The sessions were conceived to strengthen financial understanding and decision-making among women from grassroots and underserved communities. It sought to simplify essential financial concepts and make them relevant to participants’ everyday lives.
The initiative focused on introducing practical aspects of personal finance, including savings, budgeting, disciplined financial behaviour, banking awareness, inflation and the importance of long-term financial planning. It further aimed to encourage participants to move beyond informal and unstructured financial practices and develop greater confidence in engaging with formal banking and financial systems.
A key objective was to enable women undergoing vocational and livelihood training to understand the financial dimension of self-reliance. By connecting financial awareness with income generation, household planning and future security, the programme sought to equip participants with the knowledge required to make more informed financial choices.
The sessions were conducted by Anooshka Bathwal and the Dhanvesttors Team, who designed the programme to make financial literacy accessible, practical and relevant for women from grassroots communities. Recognising that financial decision-making can often appear complex or inaccessible, the programme adopted a simplified approach to introduce participants to essential principles of personal finance. Participants were encouraged to view financial planning not merely as a technical exercise, but as an important instrument for greater security, independence and informed decision-making.
Key Takeaways
- Strengthened practical understanding of savings, budgeting and everyday financial planning.
- Simplified complex financial concepts such as inflation and compounding for grassroots participants.
- Encouraged disciplined financial behaviour and informed decision-making.
- Strengthened awareness of the importance of financial planning for long-term security.
- Connected vocational skilling and income generation with responsible financial management.
- Encouraged greater confidence in engaging with formal banking and financial systems.
- Enabled women to recognise financial literacy as an essential component of independence and self-reliance.
- Promoted informed household financial planning and resource management.
- Created an accessible learning environment for women with limited prior exposure to structured financial education.
- Reinforced FLO Kolkata’s commitment to building pathways towards sustainable economic empowerment.
Impact & Outcome
Around 165 women participated across the Topsia and Chetla Skilling Centres. The interactive format enabled participants to engage with financial concepts in a relatable manner and encouraged them to consider how everyday financial choices could contribute to greater household stability and long-term self-reliance. The programme sought to build confidence in engaging with formal banking and financial systems, thereby reducing hesitation and uncertainty around financial matters.
Through this initiative, FLO Kolkata reinforced the understanding that sustainable women’s empowerment extends beyond skill development and livelihood creation. Financial awareness is equally essential in enabling women to manage resources, plan for the future and exercise greater agency over their economic lives.