By Reshmi Yadav, OP
Cuttack: Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, in collaboration with leading Odia daily Dharitri, organised a smart investing workshop titled ‘Shikshit Niveshak for Viksit Bharat’ at Marwari Club, Cuttack Saturday.
The initiative aims to promote financial literacy and encourage informed investment practices among the people of Odisha.
Editor of Dharitri and OrissaPOST, Tathagata Satpathy, graced the occasion and highlighted the long-standing need for financial awareness in the state.
“We thought of this initiative to bring something new to Odisha. Odia people have great capacity to invest, but the culture of financial education has not been strong here,” Satpathy said.
“Earlier, Bhubaneswar even had its own stock exchange, but it closed because we often do not support good initiatives—sometimes we criticise instead of encouraging. If people become financially aware, it will benefit the entire state. Through this programme, we want to start changing that mindset.”
He added that Marwari Club was an apt venue to begin the movement and thanked the attendees for turning up in large numbers.
“I thank Aditya Birla Capital and the entire team. I hope this initiative will guide our youth towards a secure financial future. For a truly Viksit Bharat, prosperity should reach everyone, not just a few,” he said.
Mohammed Aamir Sulaiman, AVP, Investor Education & Distribution Development, ABSL AMC Ltd, conducted the main session on mutual funds and investment planning. He explained how common citizens could participate in the nation’s wealth creation story.
“We partnered with Dharitri to ensure financial awareness reaches every household. To achieve the dream of Viksit Bharat, people need to be financially educated first,” Sulaiman said.
“Unless we save, we cannot invest. Savings secure the present and investments secure the future. People in Odisha traditionally invest in gold, real estate or deposits, but many other options offer better, more structured returns.”
He stressed the importance of goal-based investing—education, home, children’s future, retirement—and highlighted the rapid growth of mutual funds as an industry. He also informed about digital tools such as Fingo, which is not an investing app but a gaming app that makes financial planning easier in a playful manner. He further emphasised the flexibility offered by mutual funds through systematic investment plans (SIP), systematic transfer plans (STP), and systematic withdrawal plans (SWP).
The workshop also featured a special session on cyber security by Anila Anand, OPS, DSP and In-Charge of the Cyber Crime Police Station, CID-CB. She warned participants about rising cyber frauds linked to fake investment schemes.
“We handle thousands of cyber fraud cases every year, and treat every complaint—whether from a vendor or an influential person—with equal seriousness,” she said.
“The moment you use the internet, your data is compromised. Be extremely cautious about the links you click on and the files you download,” she added.
A panel discussion followed, moderated by Debasish Mishra, Branch Manager, Cuttack Retail Sales, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Ltd. Mutual fund investors Girindra Narayan Ghosh, Akhaya Barik, and Dilip Kumar Swain shared their personal investment journeys and the long-term benefits they experienced through disciplined investing.
The event was attended by Sanjay Kumar Sharma, President, Marwari Samaj; Shankar Lal Gupta, Secretary, Marwari Samaj; and a large gathering of investors, professionals, and youth from Cuttack and nearby regions.
PNN