side and make effective utilization of infrastructure which is created. i think that conferences and seminars like this would serve a great purpose if these specific areas can be focused upon and a definitive strategy and specific action points be worked out for each area, each kind of illiteracy and each target group. the problem universally is that there is no dearth of policy. we have the best literature available which tell you what to do. you have consultants available who would also tell you what to do ; you will also derive many conclusions from the conference and maybe list out dozens of what to do. the challenge is how to do it. so along with each what to do, if we can also outline how to do it, then only the purpose of such conferences would be served. 19. this becomes important win - win for both – for the consumer as well as the providers. if the consumers get service suitably, they develop the confidence and subsequently the requirement and the demand for this kind of product enhances. consumers prosper and if they prosper they provide more business to the providers – it becomes a virtuous cycle. and then the industry and the service providers can reasonably expect to enhance their profitability and earnings by fair and transparent measures, rather than chasing profitability through all kinds of dubious means. globally we have seen imprudent institutions getting into the mess and then requiring government bail outs. the regulators are forced to work hard to clear the left debris, when these unscrupulous players exit the scene. 20. before i conclude i would like to mention that just the other day i came across a paper titled “ national strategy for financial literacy - count me in, canada. ” i found it to be quite a focused paper. the paper sets out goals and priorities to help canadians better manage their finances and make appropriate decisions as their needs and circumstances change. it also calls on organizations to join efforts to help canadians take action and make financial literacy a life - long journey. the strategy has clearly articulated three goals for the citizens : • manage money and debt wisely • plan and save for the future bis central bankers ’ speeches • prevent and protect against fraud and financial abuse 21. the paper also details three priorities for achieving concrete actions and effective implementation of the strategy for achievement of the above policy goals : • collaborating and sharing between governments, educators, financial service providers, employers and non - profit organizations, as well as individuals and families. • tailoring programs and applying plain language principles • reaching and

when we are talking about financial education and financial literacy a lot of efforts have already gone into addressing the supply side and the consumer protection issues. you all may be aware that recently reserve bank of india has come out with a charter of customer rights, where five basic rights of customers have been enshrined. we have granted twelve to eighteen months to the banks to voluntarily adopt this charter. we have simultaneously requested iba and bcsbi to prepare a model code which can be adopted by individual banks. the banks can customize it for their individual requirements and we will observe for the next twelve to eighteen months that how this is shaping up. if we are not satisfied with the progress and find any need to intervene, we would do so. similarly i have already mentioned about the fsdc sub - group and the technical group in which representatives of all financial sector regulators participate. in addition to reserve bank of india, sebi is there, irda is there, pfrda is there, so it ’ s a combined effort of various regulators, in the area of financial literacy. then there is bcsbi, which is a voluntary body. all the banks have committed to abide by the codes prepared by bcsbi including one for msme clients. i see that one of the panel discussions is focused on msme, so i would not go into the details. then there is rbi ’ s banking ombudsman scheme where customers can seek grievance redressal. very recently we have also issued guidelines for each bank to appoint their own internal ombudsman or basically what is called as the customer service or customer complaint resolution officer. banks have practically in every district set up financial literacy and credit counseling centres which is another initiative to address the supply side. rbi website has material on financial literacy which is available in thirteen languages. in addition reserve bank has prepared some short films, cartoon literature, sixteen posters, which are aimed towards spreading financial literacy to the target group. and finally very soon more players would be coming in the banking sector. there would be new entities in the form of small finance banks and payment banks. also on the payment system side some players have been allowed to issue the pre - paid cards up to a certain extent. so these all are creating more enablers in the supply side. what are the challenges? 17. challenges exist on the demand side. there are certain barriers to demand side and they are important. important because the customers who are financially