As part of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana was launched in 2015 to facilitate small savings to be made on behalf of the girl children by their parents or the legal guardian, to meet the girl child’s future financial needs of education and marriage. Data indicates that the southern states lead both in the number of subscribers and the amount deposited under the scheme.
The Government of India in the year 2015 had launched Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) campaign with objectives of improving child sex ratio, protecting girl children, and encouraging them to pursue education and ensure their participation, among other objectives. As part of the same campaign, the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) was launched in the same year. The scheme facilitated for small savings to be made on behalf of the girl children by their parents or the legal guardian, to meet the girl child’s future financial needs of education and marriage.
In this story, we look at the features of SSY Scheme and the trends in number of subscribers registered and amount deposited, and the performance of states.
Methodology
The story uses data of SSY scheme and Population Projection datasets, compiled by Dataful, for analysis. The union territories are not covered in the analysis of the story.
Eligibility Criteria and Benefits of SSY Scheme:
As per the National Saving Institute (NSI), the eligibility criteria prescribed for the SSY scheme include the following:
- Minimum deposit of Rs. 250 to a Maximum deposit of Rs. 1.5 lakhs in a financial year, which can be deposited up to a maximum period of 15 years.
- Only one account can be opened in any Post Offices or authorized Banks in the name of a girl child who is aged below or up to 10 years.
- Withdrawal of deposited amount shall be allowed for the purpose of higher education of the account holder to meet education expenses.
- The account can be transferred anywhere in India and prematurely closed in case of marriage of girl child after her attaining the age of 18 years.
- The account shall mature on completion of a period of 21 years from the date of opening of the account.
- The deposited amount is qualified for income tax deduction under sec. 80C of Income Tax Act (ITA) and interest earned in the account is free from income tax under section 10 of ITA.
Data shows steep increase in Registered Subscribers and Amount Deposited
The data published by the NSI on the total number of registered subscribers and the total amount deposited with the Post Offices and Banks under SSY scheme shows that both these have grown consistently every year, since its launch year 2015.
The SSY scheme (scheme) data shows that by the end of December 2015, the number of registered subscribers was 41,54,357 and the total amount deposited was Rs. 3,370 crores. From this year onwards, the number of subscribers and the amount deposited under SSY has increased consistently. By the end of the year 2023, the total number of registered subscribers and the total amount deposited has increased to 3,74,18,504 and Rs. 2,09,991 crores, respectively. The average annual growth rate after the first year is around 22% in the case of subscribers and about 48% in the case of the amount deposited under SSY.
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Dominate in Number of Subscribers of Amount Deposited
Since the inception of the scheme, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have dominated it in terms of each state’s net share in the total number of registered subscribers and total amount deposited, across all the years. Each of these states has consistently had about 9% or more of the all-India share each year in both the number of registered subscribers and the total amount deposited under the scheme.
As per the scheme data, the year 2015 was dominated by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh states with 23%, 20%, and 12% shares, respectively, in terms of the total number of subscribers registered under the scheme. In the subsequent years of 2016 to 2018, though the total share of these states has come down to an average of about 10-11%, they have continued to be the top 3 states in the percentage of share in total number of subscribers. The only change that happened in the next years 2019 to 2023 is that the State of Karnataka was replaced by the State of Maharashtra in the top 3 states, while the States of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh continued to remain among the top 3 states. The overall share of each of these states in the total number of subscribers in the scheme remained at about an average of 9-11% each year.
However, if the number of registered subscribers per lakh population (based on projected population up to October 2023) is considered, the northern states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand stand in the first and second places with 6,483 and 5,358 subscribers per lakh population, respectively, which is double the national average figure of 2,681. The States of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka occupied the third and fourth positions with 4,577 and 4,123 subscribers per lakh population. The State of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh stand in 18th and 24th positions respectively with 2,655 and 1,749 subscribers per lakh population, which is below the national average.
Further, according to the scheme data, the States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh have consistently stood as the top 3 states across all the years from 2015 to 2023 in the percentage share of the total amount deposited under the scheme. Their share in the year 2015 was 19%, 19% and 11%, respectively. Subsequently, as the trend witnessed in the number of subscribers, though their share has dropped down to an average of about 10 to 11%, they have remained as the top 3 states in the share to total amount deposited under the scheme.
If the total amount of money deposited per lakh population is considered, the states of Himachal Pradesh, Goa, and Uttarakhand occupied the first three places with 43, 40, and 30 crores deposited. The states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu secure the 5th and 6th positions with 29 and 27 crores deposited per lakh population. The state of Maharashtra has occupied the 13th position with 15 crores deposited per lakh population and Uttar Pradesh is in the 21st position with 9 crores deposited per lakh population, which is below the national average figure of 15 crores deposited per lakh population.
Therefore, the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been on the top both in terms of absolute numbers and normalized figures based on the projected population of states.
Southern and Western States account for 47% and 51% of the Total Subscribers and Amount Deposited, respectively, as of 2023
As of December 2023, the total number of subscribers under the SSY scheme is 3.74 crores and the total amount deposited is Rs. 2,09,991 crores; both these parameters show an impressive growth over the years. However, the growth rate has not been uniform across the states.
As per the scheme data, as of December 2023, the total share of southern states viz. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana in the total number of subscribers to scheme stood at 4%, 7%, 3%, 9% and 3%, respectively. Similarly, their overall share in the total amount deposited up to December 2023 is 6%, 10%, 3%, 10% and 4%, respectively. The overall share of these states in the total number of subscribers and the amount deposited is 27% and 33%, respectively, which is the highest in the country among various regions.
After the southern states, the share of 4 western states viz. Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan in the total number of subscribers up to December 2023 stood at 0.1%, 5%, 9% and 6%, respectively. Similarly, their overall share in the total amount deposited up to December 2023 is 0.3%, 3%, 10% and 5%, respectively. The overall share of these states in the total number of subscribers and the amount deposited is 20% and 18%, respectively.
Together, the 9 states of southern and western India constitute to about 47% of the total number of subscribers registered and 51% of the total amount deposited under the scheme. Thus, nearly half of the share in the number of subscribers and over half of the share in the amount deposited under SSY is of these 9 states of India. Data also indicates that their share both in both the total number of subscribers and the amount deposited is higher than their share of the total population, which is 40% of India’s population.
North-Eastern States Accounted for Least Number of Subscribers and Amount Deposited
Though the overall trend in the number of subscribers and amount deposited has increased over the years, the data shows that the 7 states of the country’s north-eastern region have accounted for the lowest percentage share in terms of the number of subscribers and amount deposited.
The scheme data shows that from the year 2015 to the year 2023, the overall share of each of the northeastern states in the number of subscribers has been below 1% every year, except Assam. Assam’s share each year was more than 1% in most years.
Similarly, even on the total amount of money deposited, none of the northeastern states, including Assam, had more than a 2% share. The highest share was by the states of Assam and Meghalaya at 1.24% each during the years 2015 and 2017, respectively.
When one compares regions, the total share of all the northeastern states up to December 2023 remains at only 2.6% of the total number of subscribers and 1.5% of the amount deposited under SSY across India. The overall population share of the 7 states combined is about 3.73%. Hence, their share in total subscribers & amount deposited is even lower than their population share.
Further, when one analyses the number of subscribers and amount deposited per lakh population, these numbers are also very low in the northeastern states. In the number of subscribers per lakh population, four north-eastern states viz. Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Meghalaya occupy the bottom four positions with 28th to 31st ranks, respectively.
