Mumbai, March 10, 2023: DBS Foundation has partnered with Haqdarshak Empowerment Solutions (HESPL) to undertake a social protection and financial literacy programme for marginalised citizens. Haqdarshak had received DBS Foundation's Social Enterprise Grant for its digital platform which provides technology solutions for common people to get easy access to government welfare schemes and financial services.
According to the DBS Foundation officials, the programme to be implemented in 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, will benefit daily wage earners, domestic workers, farm workers, sanitation workers and micro-entrepreneurs.
Under this initiative, a brick-and-mortar centre (called a Yojana Kendra) will be established in select communities. Women agents will be identified and trained as Haqdarshaks. These agents will mobilise potential beneficiaries and conduct training camps in local languages. Beneficiaries will be screened with the Haqdarshak mobile app to determine their eligibility for welfare programs. The agent will provide end-to-end support to fill forms, collect documents, and register beneficiaries under social protection programmes. A helpline will be available for any queries or grievance redressal. The programme will be executed by 400 support agents, and there will be one supervisor for every 40 agents.
Shoma Narayanan, Managing Director, Group Strategic Marketing & Communications, DBS Bank India, said, "As a socially responsible bank, we recognise the need to create impact beyond banking and to encourage solutions for a more inclusive world. Our partnership with Haqdarshak is a concerted effort to empower marginalised communities, particularly women, by providing them access to social welfare and financial tools, which will give them agency over their lives. We are also proud of Haqdarshak, which has scaled significantly as a Business for Good under the DBS Foundation’s Grant Programme, and shares our purpose to build a better future.”
Speaking on the partnership, Aniket Doegar, Founder & CEO, Haqdarshak, said, “DBS Foundation has been an early partner of ours since 2018. This is our largest project so far. We will be touching the lives of 2,00,000 citizens via digital and financial literacy training and by linking them to relevant welfare entitlements. We are grateful to the DBS Foundation for collaborating with us on this important program. We hope to grow our partnership manifold in the years to come.”
Haqdarshak aims to improve the lives of citizens and MSMEs by leveraging technology solutions to provide access to government welfare and financial services. In 2018, as an early-stage venture, Haqdarshak received DBS Foundation's Social Enterprise Grant for their digital platform. Again in 2020, in response to the pandemic, DBS Foundation reinforced its commitment to supporting social enterprises by awarding all its past grantees the Business Transformation and Improvement (BTI) Grant, empowering them to continue during an exceptionally difficult year. Haqdarshak utilised this grant to serve its beneficiaries and the wider MSME community through a new platform providing access to government-assisted schemes for registrations, documentation, and financing applications.
