Girls Samriddhi Yojana
Balika Samridhi Yojana: The Central Government is running many important schemes to improve the future of the daughters of the country and make them self-reliant. Most of us know about ‘Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana’, which is a great medium for savings and investment. But, do you know about the ‘Balika Samridhi Yojana’ of the Central Government? This is a government initiative that starts providing financial support to the family as soon as the daughter is born and ensures financial assistance at every step of her education.
This scheme, run under the ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ campaign, directly benefits those families who are financially weak. The purpose of this scheme is twofold. First, to encourage the birth of daughters in the society instead of considering it as a burden. Second, to ensure that no girl child misses education due to lack of money and does not have to face evils like child marriage. This scheme strengthens the foundation of the daughter’s education.
What is ‘Balika Samridhi Yojana’?
‘Balika Samridhi Yojana’ is not a new scheme, rather it was started by the Central Government in the year 1997. Its basic objective was to promote positive thinking towards the birth of girls in the society and to strengthen their educational status.
Under this scheme, the government provides financial assistance at two levels. The first assistance is given to the mother immediately after the birth of the daughter, which is a lump sum of ₹ 500. This amount is helpful in meeting the immediate needs of the mother and child after delivery. After this, when the daughter starts going to school, the government gives a fixed amount as scholarship every year for her studies till class 10. This amount is given directly to the family, so that they can bear the expenses related to their daughter’s education.
Which families get its benefits?
This scheme has been specially designed for the neediest section of the society. Only families living ‘below poverty line’ (BPL) can get its benefit. Whether the family lives in an urban area or a rural area, if they have a BPL card, they can avail the benefits of this scheme for their daughter.
The government has placed another important condition for this scheme. The benefit of this scheme can be availed only for two daughters of a family. This rule has also been made to encourage small family standards. To avail the benefit, the daughter should be below 18 years of age (which is natural for study scholarship) and it is mandatory for the family to have the birth certificate of the daughter.
How much amount is received from birth to 10th?
The financial assistance provided under this scheme has been clearly divided. As mentioned earlier, immediately after the birth of the daughter, the mother is given ₹ 500 as post natal assistance. After this, the process of scholarship starts for the daughter’s education.
- From class 1 to 3: Financial assistance of ₹ 300 is given every year for the education of the girl child.
- In Class 4: This amount increases to ₹ 500 annually.
- In class 5: An assistance of ₹ 600 is given by the government.
- In class 6 and 7: ₹ 700 is given annually for these two classes.
- In class 8: The girl child gets financial assistance of ₹ 800.
- In Class 9 and 10: The government provides a scholarship of ₹ 1000 annually for these two important classes.
These small amounts become a big support for BPL families, due to which they are able to meet their daughter’s copy-books, uniform or other school related needs.
How to apply?
If you fall in BPL category and fulfill the eligibility of this scheme, then the application process has been kept quite simple. This process is completely offline.
- Where to get the form: To get the form of the scheme, you will have to contact your nearest Anganwadi center, Block Development Office (BDO) or the office of Women and Child Development Department.
- Keep documents ready: Along with filling the form, you will have to attach some important documents. The most important among these is the birth certificate of the daughter.
- Other Documents: Apart from this, details of Aadhar card of parents, family ration card (BPL card), residence certificate (address proof), income certificate, passport size photograph of the family and bank or post office passbook will have to be given, so that the assistance amount can be sent directly to the account.
- Submit: After filling the form completely and attaching all the documents, submit it to the same office from where you collected the form.