September 26, 2012

Press Release No. 1

NSE launches financial literacy initiative 'Jagruti' in Aligarh, in partnership with India Post

India’s leading stock exchange, the National Stock exchange (NSE) has partnered with India Post of the Government of India for a financial literacy initiative at fifty post offices in the country. The first tie up in Uttar Pradesh was launched from the head post office at Aligarh on the 26^th of September.

The alliance between the two behemoths, NSE and India Post, involves the setting up of a large sized screen at the head post office in a crowded area, near the Aligarh Muslim University. The screen will keep flashing data on NSE’s benchmark index, Nifty 50, data on stocks and other indices, advice on investing wisely as well as information on products of India Post. The screen was inaugurated by senior officials from NSE and India post.

In many ways, Aligarh is virtuously synonymous with the nearly 100 year old Aligarh Muslim University. It’s not surprising then, that the city is often referred to as the university town or the Mecca of education. But in recent years, Aligarh has also come to be known as a commercial hub for the trading of agricultural products and the lock industry, which have given a huge boost to the city’s economy. This financial literacy initiative by NSE is a move to reach out to the enterprising people of Aligarh, to make them more aware about the basics of finance and investing opportunities.

Joint Managing Director of NSE, Ms. Chitra Ramkrishna said, “India Post has a very large reach, through which we aim to increase financial literacy in the tier two and tier three cities of India. Aligarh has many small and medium sized industries, which have contributed to this city’s economic growth. We hope this educational drive “Jagruti” will help the people of Aligarh to grow their savings and expand their enterprises. ‘’

The screen at the Aligarh post office will carry information on the do’s and don’ts of trading, for instance ‘don’t share your trading password with anyone’, it is not mandatory to give a power of attorney to your broker and so on. The screen will also convey information on products for retail investors like Gold exchange traded funds and Nifty exchange traded funds, cost effective and transparent options to invest in gold and NSE’s benchmark index, Nifty 50.

It will also carry information on products of India Post, like Online money transfers, Electronic money orders, Speed post, Savings certificates, Postal life insurance and Logistics solutions for Corporates.

The alliance with India Post comes after a series of steps by NSE to increase financial literacy in different parts of the country. NSE has a tie up with more than 90 colleges in different parts of the country, to conduct short duration courses on the capital markets called the NSE Certified Capital Market Professional or the NCCMP. In Uttar Pradesh these courses are being started in four colleges including the Teerthankar Mahavir University in Moradabad, the School of Management Sciences, Varanasi and the Faculty of Management and Computer application at Agra.

The exchange has also tied up with three prominent universities for MBA and BBA (Bachelors in Business Administration) courses, including the Punjabi university in Patiala, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University at Delhi and the Maharishi Dayanand University in Rohtak. In another recent partnership, NSE has joined hands with IIM Shillong, to start a two year post graduate course in financial markets, the first to be started by an IIM.