Valapad, 22 February, 2017: The Valapad E-Village Project was formally inaugurated today by the Valapad Panchayat President, Shri Thomas Master in the presence of Shri B.N. Raveendra Babu, Executive Director, Manappuram Finance, and Dr. Anitha Shankar, Principal, SN College Nattika, at a function held at the Panchayat Office.
The project aims to spread digital financial literacy in shops and household in the Valapad village area. Initiated by Manappuram Finance Ltd. and the Valapad Panchayat, the project will involve a dedicated team comprising employees of the company, ward members and a batch of volunteer students from SN College, Nattika, fanning out into all the wards of the Panchayat with the aim of educating people in the use of various online means of payment.
Field level training will be imparted to every household of Valappad panchyat. Manappuram Finance Ltd. has trained the volunteer students of S N College and the members of Valapad Panchyat. In turn, these students, along with officials of the company, will conduct field meeting to educate at least one member per household of Valapad Panchyat and impart awareness about digital financial literacy. Every households of the panchyat would be taught the different platforms of making cashless transactions thereby transforming Valapad into a 100% digitally literate village in India. In the era of less use of cash along with growing use of digital modes of payment, people at large would lose out if they lack the knowledge to transact without cash.
Manappuram Finance Ltd. is headquartered in Valapad. This coastal village in the Thrissur District has an area of 16.33 sqkms. The total population is 35,237 out of which 19,029 are females & 16,208 are males. 40% of the population (8852 households) belongs to the BPL category. 86.5% of the total population are literate and only 13.5% are illiterate as per 2011 census.
