DBS Foundation and Haqdarshak Empowerment Solutions Pvt. Ltd. initiated a rural financial inclusion programme in India. This initiative is part of DBS Bank’s previous commitment in 2023 to invest SGD 1 billion in the coming ten years to improve the livelihoods of disadvantaged people. The bank also aims to contribute SGD 5.1 million to this programme, which will reach 500,000 recipients nationwide.

The program aims to address issues of financial literacy and access to social welfare entitlements among India's rural population. Backed by Haqdarshak’s team of agents, it will provide resources to understand financial concepts and products, as well as tools and assistance to access social welfare schemes. The project intends to focus on the rural regions in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.

Special field teams comprised of Haqdarshak's female collectors will provide financial and digital literacy training sessions in addition to screening sessions for entitlement. The programme focuses on inducting target beneficiaries—vulnerable women, the elderly, and nano entrepreneurship such as pavement vendors and peddlers—into relevant schemes of social welfare. For improved protection against scam fraud, beneficiary trainees would also be equipped with anti-scam awareness education. Augmenting the efficiency of these services, the Haqdarshak Yojana Card, being a QR-coded card, will enable smooth online access to the beneficiary's social entitlement profiles with regular information updation on scheme eligibility.

DBS employees will actively participate in the delivery program under its staff volunteer movement, 'People of Purpose,' to increase content awareness and conduct community sessions alongside the Haqdarshak team.

Haqdarshak and DBS Foundation had previously been engaged together and supported the 2018 DBSF Business for Impact Grant and the 2020 DBSF Business Transformation Improvement Grant. Haqdarshak became a DBSF program partner in India in 2023 to foster digital and financial literacy among citizens from vulnerable communities across Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana. They successfully conducted over 10,000 digital and financial literacy sessions among approximately 200,000 beneficiaries, along with entitlement screening and facilitation support to over 400,000 individuals to help them avail relevant welfare schemes. Notably, around 90% of the participants trained in digital and financial literacy were women.

This initiative aims to enable pathways out of poverty and create lasting impact by tackling real knowledge gaps with targeted solutions. It will help build a better world for generations to come.