"We will launch a pilot project in next couple of months, and hopefully make
regular national surveys. So that every five years you have the kind of data that planners and companies in the United States have," said K P Krishnan, joint secretary (capital market division), Ministry of Finance.
A lot of literature from the US experience has been borrowed, which will
be contextualised in the kind of things that India needs to do, he said
addressing the Financial Planning Congress.
The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) will assist the project. CSO will
provide the quality test, ensure that right questions are asked, sample size
and technical certification.
Data will be collected, for example, on how individuals save, where they save, how
much they plan to save, save daily or monthly.
Such data is not available in India. The survey in India is likely to happen in every
five years like in the US.
There is very low allocation of household savings in financial markets due to financial illiteracy. With people living longer, there is a need for financial planning.
The finance ministry is in dialogue with the human resources development
ministry to incorporate financial literacy in the Central Board of Secondary
Education (CBSE) syllabus by 2010.
