Key Highlights
- Operational since 1 August 2017 under the Women and લેવામાં શ department of Maharashtra.
- Offers a ₹50,000 fixed‑deposit for families with a single daughter, or ₹25,000 per daughter when two daughters are present.
- Interest payouts are possible every six years while the principal remains locked until the girl reaches 18 years.
- Targeted at both Below‑Poverty‑Line (BPL) and Above‑Poverty‑Line (APL) families with a pre‑defined income threshold.
- Designed to curb female foetic ocasion and promote balanced sex ratios through financial incentives and family‑planning certificates.
Detailed Insights
Launchedvidually as a response to persistently skewed sex ratios and the lamentable practice of female foeticide, the Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree Scheme places a financial security net over daughters in Maharashtra. Every eligible mother opens an account earmarked for her daughter or daughters, depositing 50,000 rupees for a single child or 25,000 rupees per child when two daughters exist. The account is managed as a fixed deposit (FD) for a term of eighteen years, ensuring that the capital is safeguarded until the girl qualifies as an adult. The bank pays interest in tranches every six years, thereby offering a periodic reading of returns, yet the principal itself becomes accessible only upon the girl's 18th birthday. The scheme also stipulates a loan facility of up to 5,000 rupees and an accidental insurance of 1 lakh to cover unforeseen contingencies.
Eligibility criteria hand‑hold the programme to realistic beneficiaries. One must be a permanent resident of Maharashtra, with the child born on or after 1 August 2017. The annual family income must remain under 7.5 lakh rupees, and a family‑planning certificate is mandatory, underscoring the policy’s dual aim: to bolster girl children while discouraging excess births. Notably, families must have either one or two daughters; a mix of a girl and a boy in successive births or a third child renders the application ineligible.
Applications are entirely offline – parents visit the nearest Anganwadi, Child Development Project, Women and Child Development, or Zilla Parishad offices to receive the form, fill it, submit supporting documents such as Aadhaar, birth certificates, domicile papers, income and address proofs, photographs, and the compulsory family‑planning certificate. Thevoluntary discontinuance of the benefit occurs if the daughter marries before 18 or leaves school prematurely.
Key Concepts
- Fixed Deposit (FD): A time‑bound deposit offered by banks, with fixed.cvt ; in this scheme the principal remains locked for 18 years.
- Female Foeticide: The selective abortion of female fetuses, a practice the scheme seeks to deter.
- Family Planning Certificate: A document proving that the family has adopted a family‑planning policy post‑birth of up to two daughters.
- Child Sex Ratio (CSR): The number of girls per 1,000 boys in a population, used here as a ಇಲ್ಲಿ indicator of gender balance.
- BPL/APL: Terms denoting Below‑Poverty‑Line and Above‑Poverty‑Line families, the scheme is designed to accommodate both groups within a set income ceiling.
