Under the 'Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana' launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi under 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao', while many accounts of daughters up to age of 10 years have been opened in post offices, in many villages, accounts of all eligible daughters have been opened and declare them as complete Sukanya Samriddhi Gram. On 'International Daughter's Day' (22 September), Postmaster General of North Gujarat Region, Ahmedabad, Shri Krishna Kumar Yadav said that till now about 500 villages in North Gujarat region have been made complete Sukanya Samriddhi Grams. Sukanya accounts of all eligible girls up to age of ten years have been opened in these villages in the post office. Not only this, in these villages, if there is an announcement of the birth of a daughter in any house, the postman immediately reaches there to open her Sukanya account. Postmaster General Shri Krishna Kumar Yadav said that with this step which is taken towards economic empowerment of daughters, more than 4.50 lakh accounts of Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana have been opened in the post offices of North Gujarat region, while 15.22 lakh accounts have been opened in the Gujarat circle. All eligible girls are being connected to it by running campaigns in various schools and Dak Chaupals in villages.

It is noteworthy that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had launched Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana in January 2015 under the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' campaign. Under this, Sukanya Samriddhi account can be opened in any post office for a minimum of ₹ 250 for girls up to age of ten years. Postmaster General Shri Krishna Kumar Yadav said that a minimum of ₹ 250 and a maximum of ₹ 1.5 lakh can be deposited in a financial year. In this scheme, money will have to be deposited only for 15 years from opening the account. When the daughter turns 18 years of age, 50 percent of the deposited amount can be withdrawn and the entire amount can be withdrawn after 21 years from the date of opening the account. At present the interest rate is 8.2 percent and there is also a provision for income tax exemption on the deposited amount.

Postmaster General Shri Krishna Kumar Yadav said that Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is not only a medium of investment, but it is also linked to the bright and prosperous future of daughters. Social dimensions of this scheme along with the economic dimensions are also important. The amount deposited in this will be solely for the daughters, which will be useful in their education, career and marriage. This scheme will also promote women empowerment and self-reliant India in future by empowering daughters.

AP/GP/JD

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