Sanjit Ali Khan hails from Kotulpur district in West Bengal. For the last few months, he’s been working as a volunteer with DEF for its DigiSupport project. DigiSupport, an initiative of DEF and Axis Bank, aims at empowering financially excluded communities to digitally access and consume financial products, services and information through rural digital interventions. As a DigiPrerak (volunteer), Sanjit feels his life is better utilized. He goes door to door, creating awareness about banking and other financial services, he trains people to use net banking and operate mobile wallets. However, it’s not an easy job.

Not everyone is willing to open their house to him or spare a couple of hours. Not everyone wants to share their mobile number and bank account details to open a mobile wallet, and their apprehensions are legit. They are also scared to get their pictures taken to open a physical bank account. They have been fooled and misguided often to question the intentions of a DigiPrerak. Yet, Sanjit is never disheartened. He believes that whatever little awareness he is able to create and the few digital financial services he is able to offer will go a long way in improving the socio-economic status of rural and marginalised families.