GoI pays for girl child’s education in this yojana; it is not SSY!
GoI pays Rs 6,700 plus interest in Balika Samridhi Yojana for educating girl child.
You must have heard of Sukanya Samridhi Yojana, but do you know there is one more government scheme for educating girl children in the country. It is Balika Samridhi Yojana. It is for girl children living in both rural and urban areas. It is government’s scheme so there is no risk of loss of money. Anybody living below poverty line can apply for this scheme. They will get funds to manage education expenses of their girl child.
Where can you apply for Balika Samridhi Yojana?
The girl child’s parents will have to obtain and submit the application form with an Angadwadi centre or health functionary. After successful submission of the form, the government authorities will open a bank account in the name of the girl child with the nearest bank or post office branch.
Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) implements Balika Samridhi Yojana in rural areas. While, health department officials implement it in urban areas.
Is their any age limit?
The girl child should not be above 18 years old. She should be born on or after August 15, 1997.
Benefits of Balika Samridhi Yojana:
On birth of the girl child, government will deposit Rs 500 in bank account opened in her name. Then, after she is admitted to a school, some amount will be deposited on annual basis every time gets promoted to a new class. This way, government will credit annual scholarship amount on yearly basis from the time the girl child is in class 1 to the time she finished her class 10 studies. How much scholarship amount she would get in every class can be seen in the following table:
How much money will the girl child get?
| Class | Annual Scholarship (Rs) |
| I-III | 300 for each class |
| IV | 500 |
| V | 600 |
| VI-VII | 700 for each class |
| VIII | 800 |
| IX-X | 1,000 for each class |
Government will dispense funds through direct benefit transfer (DBT). This means money will be directly credited to the girl child’s bank account.
How much total amount can one get?
Total grant will be Rs 6,700 plus interest.
Following documents are required to open Balika Samridhi Yojana account:
1. Beneficiary’s Birth Certificate
2. Girl child’s parent’s identity proof which includes:
a. Ration Card b. Aadhaar card c. Bank Account Passbook
3. Parent’s Niwas Praman Patra (Domicile of Parents)
This is not ideally an investment scheme like Sukanya Samridhi Yojana. This is more of a scholarship scheme.
How to withdraw funds?
After the girl child attains the age of 18. The bank account will mature. Then, the total corpus accumulated in the bank account can be withdrawn all at once.
At the time of withdrawal, the girl child will have to produce a certificate which would establish that she was not married till she was of 18. This certificate she can be issued by gram panchayat or municipality.
Limitations:
Watchout! If the beneficiary girl child gets married before she is of 18, then, apart from the post birth benefits and interest compounded on this amount, she will not get a single penny. This means, she will get only accumulated corpus of Rs 500 plus interest. She will be completely barred off total scholarship amount and interest compounded on it. This ‘Yojana’ is just not for married girls.
Plus, parents can apply for this scheme for maximum of two girl children in their family.
What if beneficiary girl child dies before scheme tenure end?
In case the beneficiary girl child dies before the tenure of the scheme comes to an end or before she turns 18, then, the parents will get total accumulated amount lying in the bank account till the death of the child.
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