SUKANYA SAMRIDDHI ACCOUNT YOJANA - Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Account is basically a Girl Child Prosperity Account, Its a Government of India backed saving scheme targeted at the parents of girl children. The scheme encourages parents to build a fund for the future education and marriage expenses for their female child.

The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22 January 2015 as a part of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign. The scheme currently provides an interest rate of 9.2% and tax benefits. The account can be opened at any India Post office or a branch of some authorised commercial banks.

Initially, the interest rate was set at 9.1% but later revised to 9.25 in late March 2015.

Eligibility Condition for Sukanya Samriddhi Account

• The account can be opened by the natural or legal guardian in the name of a girl child from the birth of the girl child till she attains the age of 10 years
• A depositor can open and operate only one account in the name of a girl child under the scheme rules
• Natural or legal guardian of a girl child can be allowed to open the account for two girl children only.
• The third account in the name of the girl child can be opened in the event of birth of twin girls, as second birth or if the first birth itself results into three girl children

Documentation for Sukanya Samriddhi Account

• SSY Account Opening Form
• Birth Certificate of girl child
• Identity proof (as per RBI KYC guidelines)
• Residence proof (as per RBI KYC guidelines)

Benefits of Sukanya Samriddhi Account

• Tax Exemption – Investment in Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana scheme is exempted from Income Tax under section 80C. The scheme offers Tax Benefit under TripleE regimen ie. Principal, interest and outflow all are tax exempted.
  At the time of launch, only the deposits in the account were eligible for tax deduction under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, which is 1,50,000 in 2015-16. However, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced, during the 2015 Union Budget, tax exemption on the interest from the account and on withdrawal from the fund after maturity, making the tax benefits similar to that of the Public Provident Fund. These changes were applied retrospectively from 1 April 2015. These benefits will be reassessed annually
• Withdrawal Facility -To meet the financial requirements of the account holder for the purpose of higher education and marriage, account holder can avail partial withdrawal facility after attaining 18 years of age

Features of Sukanya Samriddhi Account

• Attractive interest rate of 9.2%. Interest rate calculated on yearly basis ,Yearly compounded is regulated by Ministry of Finance from time to time
• Minimum Rs. 1,000 can be invested in one financial year
• Maximum investment of Rs. 1,50,000 can be made in one financial year
• Subsequent deposit in multiple of INR 100/- Deposits can be made in lump-sum No limit on number of deposits either in a month or in a Financial year
• If the minimum deposit is not made in a year, a fine of 50 will be levied.
• Deposits in an account can be made till completion of 14 years, from the date of opening of the account
• The account shall mature on completion of 21 years from the date of opening of the account, provided that where the marriage of the account holder takes place before completion of such period of 21 years, the operation of the account shall not be permitted beyond the date of her marriage
• The account can be opened anytime between the birth of a girl child and the time she attains 10 years age by the guardian. Only one account is allowed per child. Parents can open a maximum of two accounts for each of their children (exception allowed for twins and triplets). The account can be transferred to anywhere in India.
• For initial operations of Scheme, one year grace has been given. With the grace, Girl child who is born between 2.12.2003 &1.12.2004 can open account up to 1.12.2015.
• Scheme Matures in 21 years or on Girl’s Marriage, whichever is earlier – The girl can operate her account after she reaches the age of 10. The account allows 50% withdrawal at the age of 18 for higher education purposes. The account reaches maturity at the age of 21. If the account is not closed, then it will continue to earn interest at the prevailing rate. If the girl is over 18 and married, normal Premature closure is allowed
• If account is not closed after maturity, balance will continue to earn interest as specified for the scheme from time to time.
• Nomination Facility – Nomination facility is not there with this scheme. In an unfortunate event of the death of the girl child, the balance amount will be paid to the parents/ legal guardian of the girl child and the account will be closed immediately.

So, here you have the tables in which maturity values are given as per your annual contributions as well as monthly contributions:

Yearly Contribution Table

Monthly Contribution Table

Note for Above calculation:

• Rate of Interest has been assumed to remain 9.2% for all these 21 years.
• Yearly contributions have been assumed to be made on April 1 every year i.e. the beginning of the financial year.
• Monthly contributions have been assumed to be made on 1st day of every month.
•  It is also assumed that no withdrawal is made throughout these 21 years.

By mid-March 2015, within 2 months of launch, 1,80,000 accounts had been opened under the scheme. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh reported highest number of new accounts.