India Post to handle 80,000 accounts for state govt’s Bhagyalakshmi scheme

BENGALURU: Nearly 80,000 accounts under Karnataka’s popular Bhagyalakshmi scheme for girl children is to be handed over to India Post. An additional 1.5 lakh accounts will be transferred by the women and child welfare department to the postal department in Karnataka annually. The new arrangement is expected to benefit the girl child with a bigger lumpsum when she turns 18, as well as permit the State to make its deposit as small sums over a long period. A Cabinet meeting on October 22, headed by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, decided to shift the scheme for the financial year 2020-2021 from Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), which was handling it since 2006-2007, to India Post’s Sukanya Samriddhi Account scheme of India.

The reason was that LIC offered a low rate of interest compared to the postal department. The scheme, implemented to improve the sex ratio in the state, was an incentive for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families with girl children, and is reported to be a success. Under it, insurance bonds were issued for a maximum of two girls by the State, and a sum of Rs 1 lakh is provided to them when they turn 18. The General Post Office is gearing up to take on this s c h eme .

“We a re earmarking a separate section on the first floor with 12 staffers, and are recruiting them to handle this account. We expect all accounts to be transferred by the State government within a month,” said a postal official. A senior official in the women and child welfare department told TNIE, “The arrangement with India Post will help the girl child get better returns when she turns 18. Instead of Rs 1 lakh which was to be given by LIC, the postal department will give Rs 1,27,000 to each girl.

From the State’s point, we have to make a one-time payment of Rs 19,300. India Post allows us to pay annual amounts of Rs 3,000 for each child for 15 years, and this is easier for the government from the financial point of view,” the official explained. The Anganwadi teacher will connect children with the WCD department, who will open the accounts and then transfer them to the postal department. In all, 29 lakh Bhagyalakshmi accounts have already been opened under LIC. “It applies to all accounts that were opened since April 1, 2020,” the official said.