Inspired by – DAILY SIP – BUILDING FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE BY BUILDING HABITUAL PRACTICES
This morning (September 16, 2026), while reading the Times of India, I came across an article. I was overjoyed, but before I tell you why, let me give you a little history.
As a social entrepreneur working in rural India, promoting my social enterprise and finding solutions for the incredible women and farmers I work with in Udaypur Gaon is a major goal of mine. From setting up our soap operation to building micro-greenhouses, finding ways to create value has always been my dream. Many have said that I might be overthinking this dream; as a result, I have not received the necessary support. However, making sure I try—to prove that there is real potential—is the best way to get the ball rolling.
A little back story.
During my MBA days at Christ University, I was inspired by the college’s dedication to supporting the slums in Bangalore. The question I had was: How do I become a part of this movement? I didn’t just want to visit the place, feel sad, and head back without giving something tangible. The questions on my mind were: How often can I give back? And how much should we give back?
That’s where I started “The ₹2 a Day Initiative,” where each student would donate ₹2 every day into a bottle, and we would consolidate it at the end of the month.
We collected ₹2400 in a month and provided the kids with sports equipment and books. The idea was to create a sustained, habit-based movement that could be replicated in every class. Unfortunately, it had to be discontinued—why, you ask? Let’s just say we weren’t allowed to continue.
After my tryst with corporate India, rural India called. A dream of following in my mother’s legacy of working with the Adivasi community was within my grasp, so I joined the SBI Youth for India fellowship, working with a local NGO in Pandhana, Madhya Pradesh.
The learning was immense, but I couldn’t help wondering: What change am I making? What am I giving back?
The Reasoning
During my 13th-month fellowship, I had the privilege of visiting more than 30 villages and talking to more than 40 SHGs. The paraworker I was working with helped me understand the savings mechanisms and the five principles of an SHG.
The 5S principles for SHGs are:
- Regular Meetings (Regular Sangathan / Sitting): Members must meet weekly or fortnightly at a fixed time and place to discuss activities, issues, and financial transactions.
- Regular Savings (Regular Bachat): Every member contributes a fixed, pre-agreed amount of money into the common fund during each meeting to build group capital.
- Regular Inter-Loaning (Regular Rin): The pooled savings are loaned out to members within the group who need credit for productive or emergency purposes.
- Regular Repayment (Regular Vapasi): Members who borrow from the group must repay their loan principal and interest on time, according to the agreed schedule.
- Regular Book-keeping (Regular Lekha-jokha): All financial transactions, meeting minutes, and individual savings/loan records must be accurately documented in the group’s registers.
During my 13th-month fellowship, I had the privilege of visiting more than 30 villages and talking to more than 40 SHGs. The paraworker I was working with helped me understand the savings mechanisms and the five principles of an SHG.
Each woman would save ₹100 everyone and this would go into a collective fund. How could I help in increasing this? As I sat in my room going through various permutations and combinations, the ₹2 a day initiative came back to me. This is when I released, what if we change As I sat in my room going through various permutations and combinations, the ₹2 a day donations to ₹2 a day savings.
₹2*30 days = ₹60. Savings increase from ₹100 → ₹160. A 60% increase in savings but saving everyday.
The Outcome
We started the ₹2 a day savings initiative with 16 SHGs. The first few months were amazing. Women were saving consistently, but slowly, as the months went by, we saw a decline in the amount collected. Why, you ask?
- I forgot.
- The children wanted to buy chocolates.
- I lost my savings bottle.
- A few of the women had to leave town for work, so it couldn’t be kept up.
The habit that was forming could not be sustained. Constant follow-ups and regular reminders were needed—but why? Could we develop an app that helps in this endeavor?
This solution wouldn’t just be for SHGs, but also for FPOs and village youth. Google Gemini has run ads on empowering the villages of India by asking the right questions. Can we use AI to help foster savings habits, thereby improving financial security and contributing to India’s roadmap toward a $5 trillion economy?
Let me put it this way: when I was doing research to start making milk soaps in the various villages, I found that, on average, two women from each family would buy a Fair & Lovely sachet every week without fail. Why, you ask, even without a clear outcome? Well, because someone else was buying it and they felt they had to—peer pressure. If peer pressure can be used to drive consumer purchases, why not harness it to encourage saving?
The Road forward
According to Boniface Noronha as written in the TOI article by Anhinav.Kaul@timesofindia.com “When investment minimums become similar to mobile recharge, the conversation from ‘Can I invest?’ to ‘Why am I not investing?’.
Can companies like PayU or PhonePe develop apps for investments directed toward rural India? We could tie up with NGOs to help instill the savings habit. Through the app, financial analysis could be performed for both SHGs and individuals. This data is vital for understanding and evaluating savings habits, as well as identifying any problems that NGOs or the government can address.
Micro-donations and micro-savings play a huge factor in capital assimilation over a period of time. Like a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP), creating micro-ways to donate or save can move mountains and help many become a part of the movement. This also allows for better financial literacy programs in rural India, as well as making capital available where it is normally hard to come by. Viksit Bharat is not a pipe dream if done correctly; finding a way to create opportunity through micro-habits is a huge step toward a more sustainable India.