Picture: Financial assistance to Women Entrepreneur by Nitai Pada Saha, CEO, Rural Services Foundation
Women empowerment is one of the strategic resolution and operational priorities of RSF. A great number of village women do work that directly adding value to economic development, yet many of them have time and skill to go for something worth doing by all means. Taking that into cognizance, RSF developed the Women Entrepreneurship Development Opportunity (WEDO) platform that enabling women to exploit their entrepreneurship aspiration, enabling them to contribute to economic solvency and growth in the national GDP. RSF brought them under financial inclusion and offered SME loan through its SIBL-RSF Agent Banking operation. Women entrepreneurs are now capable enough to run her own SME business, open accounts with SIBL Agent bank for necessary transactions (payment, withdraw) and avail loan as and when needed for business investment.
Women are also inspired to take up Agent Banking outlet as independent agent and deliver financial services to the rural people, providing foreign remittance and cash withdraw services. RSF offered attractive incentive and festival bonus on targeted sales and collection of RSF products for women entrepreneur. Thus RSF played a good role in the village economy.