Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) Scheme is a government-backed long-term investment scheme. The primary motto of the scheme is to provide financial security for the country girls. As the name itself implies this scheme is applied only for the girl children. This scheme comes with a fixed interest feature, tax exemption feature, etc…
Generally, the scheme should be opened only by the guardian of the girl. The guardian maybe her parents or the person who brought up her. The tenure of this scheme is up to nearly 21 years. This long-term tenure enables low and mid-income families to invest in this scheme. PPF, NSC, and post office FD’s are some other schemes that are similar to this Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna Scheme.
1) What is Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Scheme (SSY)?
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana scheme was introduced by the Prime Minister of India in January 2015 to enhance the financial security of young girls. This scheme was introduced under the label of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign. Also, this is one of the risk-free investment options available in India as it provides attractive interest rates and faster capital growth.
Sukanya samriddhi scheme can be brought by parents or the legal guardians for their girl child. For this, the girl should be at the age of below 10. The tenure of the SSY scheme is about 21 years or it can also be extended up to the marriage of the account holder.
To make the scheme easily available, it was offered in all the post offices, all the national banks, and some of the top leading private banks.
2) Why did we choose Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Scheme (SSY)?
The primary reason to choose the sukanya samriddhi yojana scheme is that it can be useful for minor girls. usually, No other schemes like the Public Provident fund (PPF), FD, and National Savings Certificate (NSC) has this kind of investment for the sake of minor girls. This scheme offers an assured return on your investment after the completion of the maturity period.
SSY works more similar to other government-backed schemes like PPF, Post office FD’s, and NSC but varies in the point
- Interest rate
- Tenure period
- Availability of all gender
Thus all other schemes are available for both men and women, while SSY is limited only for girls. The minimum amount to be deposited in SSY is Rs.250. This makes it more convenient for low-income people to invest without any burden.
3) How to apply for the SSY scheme?
To invest in the SSY scheme one needs to fill the SSY application form. Then it needs to be submitted along with other documents like
- Aadhar card
- PAN card
- Passport etc…
After this KYC verification process is carried out. Then you can make an initial deposit by depositing how much you wish to deposit in the sukanya samriddhi yojana scheme? Through cheque or draft.
Also, one can find SSY application forms in nearby post offices, all the national banks, and some of the private banks. If you find it difficult to get the form from these sources then the alternative way to get this form is by downloading it from
- Website of the Reserve Bank of India
- India post’s website and
- The Individual websites of banks such as SBI, HDFC, ICICI, etc…
Whatever may be the source the fields in the form remain the same all over the sources.
4) What are the fields in the SSY application form?
Details that need to be filled in the SSY application form are much higher compared to other schemes. This form includes the details of the girl child who is the beneficiary of the SSY scheme under the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojna. Also include the details of the legal guardian who is registering on behalf of the girl child.
The form contains fields such as
- Name of the primary SSY account holder (girl child)
- Name of the legal guardian
- Details of the cheque number or the Demand Draft (DD) number through which you made your initial investment
- Date of Birth (DOB) of the primary account holder
- Details of birth certificate of girl child which includes birth certificate number and the date of issue.
- Details of ID proof for legal guardians which include Aaaadhar, PAN card, Driving license, etc…
- Address proof for both present and permanent addresses. This address proof should need to be matched with the Id proof of legal guardian.
- Finally the list of KYC documents and the signature column.
After finishing up all these things go and submit the SSY application form to the SSY scheme provider for further processing.
5) What are the eligibility criteria for Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Scheme?
To apply for the sukanya samriddhi yojana scheme you just need to pass the below-mentioned eligibility criteria
- Only parents and the legal guardians of the girl child are allowed to open an SSY savings scheme.
- All the applicants, primary account holders, and legal guardians should be resident Indians. NRI’s are not eligible to apply for this scheme.
- The age of the girl child who is the primary account holder of the SSY scheme should be less than 10. If the girl has an age higher than 10 then the application would get rejected.
- Also, you can open only one SSY saving account in the name of the primary account holder. More than one account is not allowed in this scheme. If you have two girls in your family then you are eligible to open two accounts respective to each girl.
There is a special case in the case of three girl children.
- If the first girl is born before the twin girls or triplet children then you have a possibility of opening the third SSY account
- If the girl is born after the twin girls or triplet children then you can’t open the third SSY account.
6) How to transfer the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Scheme (SSY)?
Transferring of SSY savings scheme is one of the best key features available for this scheme. Using this feature you can transfer the SSY savings account to anywhere in India. Note that the transfer request process can be done both online as well as offline.
usually, to initiate your transfer from one post office to another or from one branch of bank to another you need to fill up the transfer request form. Then submit it to the SSY scheme provider to proceed with the further process.
7) What is the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) calculator?
As mentioned earlier this scheme comes with the benefit of using the amount for their daughter’s marriage or their higher studies or their well-being. The tenure of this scheme is nearly 21 years.
By taking the principal amount, provided interest rate, and the maturity period into considerations we can calculate how much should we earn after the completion of the maturity period. For this manual calculation, the formula used is
CI= P( 1+ i/n)^ nt
where
CI is the compound interest for the deposited amount.
P is the principal amount that has been deposited.
r is the rate of interest calculated.
n is how many times does the interest is compounded in a year.
t is the number of years.
If you proceed with the manual calculation with the above-mentioned formula then it should be a tedious process and the possibility of occurring error is quite high. Here the usage of the SSY calculator becomes useful. You can calculate the SSY calculation within a fraction of seconds.
7.1) How does the SSY calculator calculate?
In the SSY calculator enter the age of your girl child, the amount you are going to deposit every year, and the year on which you started to invest.
For example, let us assume that the yearly investment is Rs.3250, and the age of your girl is 3, and 2020 be the first year that you are going to deposit. Generally, the interest will be automatically entered as per the latest interest rate released by the government. If any changes are made by the government then they will be automatically updated.
Within a fraction of seconds, your result will be displayed as mentioned below
- Maturity period: 2041
- Total investment: Rs. 48,750
- Total interest earned: Rs.89,162
- Maturity value: Rs.1,37,912
You don’t need to install any additional application to carry out the SSY calculation using the SSY calculator. It is readily available online.
8) What are the benefits of Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana?
SSY has a lot of benefits which are listed below
8.1) Tax benefits of SSY
The SSY scheme comes under the EEE ( Exempt, Exempt, Exempt) type of investment. This indicates that the principal amount invested, the earned interest, and the maturity amount come as tax-free money.
The tax deductions apply to your SSY scheme only if you have invested not more than Rs.1.5 lakh per annum. Otherwise, it will come under taxable investment.
8.2) Interest rates of SSY scheme
The interest rate offered by the SSY savings scheme for the current financial year (2021-2022) is 7.6%. This interest rate is quite high while comparing with other government-backed investing schemes like PPF and NSC. In the financial year (2019-2020) the interest rate is 8.4%. Due to the higher interest rate and the assured return, it is one of the best investment options.
8.3) Flexible investment
As mentioned earlier you can deposit from Rs.250 to Rs.1.5 lakh p.a. which makes this option a flexible investment option. You need to make a minimum investment amount for 15 years from the date of account opening. The remaining 6 years will earn themselves without any depositions.
If the user can’t able to make even the minimum pay of Rs.250, then the account will be declared as the default account. It will earn interest for the remaining period as mentioned in the scheme.
8.4) Effect of compounding
The SSY scheme comes under the effect of compounding. Even if you invest a small amount, it will generate a large return over a long period due to the annual compounding.
8.5) Premature withdrawals
Premature withdrawal from the SSY savings scheme is not allowed without any prior permission. Only under certain conditions, premature withdrawals are allowed.
- In case of the demise of the account holder or the demise of a legal guardian before the girl’s age reaches 18.
- After the completion of 18 years, the account control will transfer to the girl. If there are any medical emergencies, or in need of money for educational purposes then by submitting proper documents withdrawal can be allowed.
9) What are the disadvantages of the SSY savings scheme?
Some of the disadvantages of the sukuna samriddhi yojana scheme are
- You can’t be used is as collateral against loans like PPF and NSC.
- The tenure period is nearly 21 years which is quite high.
- When you have a three-girl child in your home you can’t take the third SSY account.
Hereby concluding that if we compare PPF, NSC, and SSY then the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana will be better in interest rates. It will be the safest investment option with a guaranteed return. You are given a lot of scheme benefits. If you wish to give financial independence and financial security to girls then the SSY scheme will be the only option.
10) FAQ
No SSC scheme can’t be kept as collateral. Only PPF and NSC scheme has an option of using the scheme as collateral for loans.
Yes, the interest rate will remain the same even if is a post office or any nationalized bank, or any private bank. So that you can buy the SSY scheme from anywhere.
