Sunday Gyaan! Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana: Things you should know about the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme

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The Narendra Modi government has unveiled many schemes so far, out of which one scheme that stands and promises achhe din for girl children in India – Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY). The Modi government introduced SSY in order to encourage parents of a girl-child to stock a fund for their education and marriage. The saving scheme was launched by the Government of India as a part of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign.

The scheme aims at tackling a major problem associated with the girl child, i.e. education and marriage. SSY aims at securing a bright future for the girl child in India by facilitating the parents of a girl child in building a fund for proper education and care-free marriage expenses of their girl child. SSY has introduced Sukanya Samriddhi Account for this purpose.

Here are things you need to know about the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana:

1) Under the new rules, known as Sukanya Samriddhi Account (Amendment) Rules, 2018, the minimum amount required for opening a Sukanya Samriddhi account has been brought down to Rs 250, from Rs 1,000 earlier.

2) The minimum annual deposit requirement, or the minimum amount required to be deposited in Sukanya Samriddhi account every year, has also been lowered to Rs 250, from Rs 1,000 earlier. These new rules came into effect from July 6, 2018.

3) Parents or legal guardian of a girl child who has not attained the age of 10 years, can open the account.

4) Apart from higher interest rate as compared to other small savings instruments such as PPF, tax exemption is also one of the greatest advantages of the Sukanya Samriddhi account.

5) Contribution to Sukanya Samriddhi account up to Rs. 1.50 lakh in a financial year qualifies for income tax deduction under Section 80C of Income Tax Act. The entire interest earned and maturity amount is also non-taxable. The maximum amount that can be deposited in a Sukanya Samriddhi account is Rs 1.5 lakh in a financial year.

6) Either the guardian or girl child (if she has attained the age of 10 years) may deposit the amount and operate the account. Account shall be mandatorily operated by the girl child after she attains age of 18 years.

7) Sukanya Samriddhi account will mature on completion of 21 years from the date of opening of account.

8) The SSY accounts can be opened in any post office or authorised branch of commercial banks.

9) Partial withdrawal will be allowed on the account holder attaining the age of 18 to meet educational or marriage expenses. Withdrawal will be limited to 50% of the balance standing at the end of the preceding financial year.

10) Normal premature closure will be allowed for the purpose of the account holder’s marriage, if she has attained the age of 18.

Documents needed to open the Sukanya Samridhi Account

1. Birth certificate of the girl child
2. Identity and residential proof of the guardian
3. Medical certificate for proof of birth of multiple girl children on a single order of birth
4. Any other documents as required by post office or banks