Change The Soch: A 21-City Journey to Strengthen Women’s Financial Literacy

A new nationwide campaign named “Change The Soch” has kicked off to improve financial understanding among women across India. Launched on January 20, 2026, the drive will travel from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, with stops in 21 cities featuring on-ground seminars designed to make financial education accessible, practical and engaging. This comes at a time when women are playing a stronger role in managing household money, yet structured financial knowledge remains uneven across regions.  

Why Financial Literacy for Women Matters

In India, women’s involvement in financial activities has been rising, but gaps in formal financial education persist. Recent data show that women are increasingly seeking credit and actively monitoring their credit scores, with millions taking ownership of their financial profiles. Between 2019 and 2024, the number of women borrowers grew sharply, especially in semi-urban and rural areas.  

Yet despite these gains, many women still lack structured guidance on budgeting, savings, investment vehicles, credit management, and long-term planning. This weakens their ability to make informed decisions, limits entrepreneurship, and often keeps them dependent on others for complex financial choices.

Campaigns like Change The Soch seek to close this gap by bringing financial knowledge directly to communities rather than relying solely on digital or metro-centric education modes.

What the 21-City Drive Involves

The initiative, organised by Franklin Templeton India, will host interactive sessions at each stop. Rather than one-way lectures, these seminars are designed to be conversational—encouraging women to ask questions, share personal experiences and discuss challenges specific to their circumstances.  

Key topics include:

• Basic principles of saving and budgeting
• Importance of long-term financial planning
• How to handle irregular income and rising living costs
• Tools for disciplined investing across life stages

Sessions are open to all, but with a focus on equipping women with confidence and understanding so they can participate actively in financial decisions at home and in business.

The choice of cities—from small towns to larger urban areas—underscores the aim to reach diverse audiences, not just those already financially aware.

Existing Trends in Women’s Financial Behaviour

The timing of this campaign aligns with broader improvements in women’s financial engagement. Research indicates that:

• Women’s credit-seeking behaviour has risen substantially, with business and personal loan accounts opening at high rates in smaller towns. 
• More women are actively checking credit scores, with a reported 42% increase year-on-year in the number of women monitoring credit as of late 2024.  

These trends show women are not only stepping into financial roles more frequently but are also becoming proactive about understanding and shaping their credit profiles.

Nevertheless, gaps remain in areas like investment knowledge, risk management, retirement planning, and navigating digital financial tools—skills that structured literacy programmes aim to build.

Broader Efforts to Boost Financial Literacy

The Change The Soch drive reflects a broader movement in India to enhance financial literacy among women. Institutional efforts, such as literacy campaigns by the Reserve Bank of India and partnerships between financial organisations and women’s platforms, have been ongoing to build awareness and practical skills.  

Such initiatives also complement work by NGOs and academic institutions that provide budgeting, savings and investment education at grassroots levels, especially where formal schooling and access to finance remain limited.  

Conclusion: Shifting Mindsets, One City at a Time

Change The Soch is more than a series of seminars—it is an effort to shift mindsets. By meeting women where they live, work and make financial decisions, the drive seeks to demystify money matters and plant the seeds for confident, informed financial choices. If sustained and scaled, such efforts could help transform financial behaviour, enhance economic participation and support stronger financial independence for women across the country.