Life Skills Empowerment Beneficiaries’ Exposure Visit to a BANK

The Life Skills Empowerment (LSE) project is one for the adolescents of the slum communities where we, the team of Mumbai Smiles works, which aims to provide regular training to these young adults in various life skills by way of regular sessions and workshops on topics such as personality development, time management, stress management, communication skills, reproductive health etc. As part of the outdoor activities, a few exposure visits are also conducted for the beneficiaries in order to expose them to important institutions such as a police station, bank, hospital etc, so as to empower with the knowledge to deal with the uncertainties of life and approach the appropriate authority with knowledge and confidence.

The latest exposure visit for the LSE girls and boys was to a bank nearby. The Central Bank of India, JB Nagar branch (near Marol area), led by Mr. Gajanan Bhoi, the Bank Manager, was more than happy to give a crash-course on the functions of a bank and its utility for common man for our LSE beneficiaries. With the objective to inculcate financial literacy as well as attempt to spark off a good habit of regular and organised saving, the visit to Bank was a comprehensive one.

Starting with an introductory and orientation session, the bank team helped the beneficiaries understand the functions and working of the various departments of a bank, as follows:

1. Details on the different kinds of bank accounts – savings, current, NRI etc. and the interest earning system on the same
2. Documents and Procedure to open a bank account
3. Special focus on Students Accounts
4. Withdrawal/Deposit Slips
5. Internet Banking
6. Term Deposits – Fixed and Recurring – regular and tax benefits as well as interest format
7. Tax Saving Schemes – Public Provident Fund, Mutual Funds etc.
8. Types of loans, its functions, liability and benefits
9. Foreign Currency and Currency Exchange (Foreign and Indian)
10. Identifying Fake Currency
11. Hierarchy of the Bank Departments
12. Importance of Savings

The beneficiaries, being the curious adolescents that they are at this age, had a lot of questions and doubts, which the Bank Team, very patiently and clearly, answered and clarified all the doubts.

A satisfying visit, the beneficiaries really valued the knowledge gained from this exposure visit and are now geared up for the next exposure visit, about which we will post here very soon!