National Girl Child Day 2023 — 5 investment options, schemes for your daughter

National Girl Child Day is observed on January 24 to spread public awareness about inequities that girls face in Indian society. When we talk about women's empowerment, it's important to address the need for financial independence too. And this independence can come only when your girl child has some investment in place from the very beginning.

This could be one of the best investment plan to build a decent future for your girl child. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is one of the savings schemes offered by India Post. Interest rates applicable to it are reviewed every quarter. Currently, interest at the rate of 7.6 percent is available on the investment in the Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSA) at designated post office branches.

A legal guardian/natural guardian can open SSA in the name of a girl child. An account can be opened up to the age of 10 years only from the date of birth, according to India Post.

Customers can set up a Sukanya Samriddhi account at a minimum investment of Rs 250 and a maximum of Rs 1,50,000 per financial year. The subsequent deposits in the account can be made in multiples of Rs 50.

It is a type of mutual fund targeted toward achieving the different life events of a child, such as marriage, higher education, etc., Gift funds invest in a combination of Debt and Equity Instruments. An example of Debt Instrument is Fixed Income Securities and of Equities is shares.

These are classified further as "Hybrid-Debt Oriented" or "Hybrid-Equity Oriented" Funds based on the level of exposure to equities. If the equity exposure is more than 60 percent and the remaining is invested in debt assets, the mutual fund is treated as an Equity Oriented Balanced Fund. However, if debt exposure is more than 60 percent and the remaining is invested in equity assets, the mutual fund is treated as a Debt Oriented Balanced Fund.

LIC Kanyadan Policy launched is a customized version of the LIC Jeevan Lakshya plan to focus more on protecting girl children. This savings plus protection plan provides a decent financial corpus for your girl child’s financial future with affordable premiums.

This is a government scheme to benefit girls born into BPL families or EWS by providing them with financial assistance. The benefits of Balika Samriddhi Yojana are restricted to two female children in each family, irrespective of the total number of children in the house.

Financial assistance is provided in two parts. The first instalment of the financial assistance is provided at the time of birth of the eligible girl child. The mother of such a girl child is provided with a one-time financial assistance of Rs 500. The second instalment of financial assistance starts at the time of formal education for the eligible girl child.

It is one such scheme initiated by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in association with the Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) of the Government of India. The objective is to enhance the rate of enrolment of female students in the country's engineering colleges.

This scheme intends to offer free offline or online study resources that are simple to learn for the qualifying female students of Class 11 and hence enable them to better prepare for Engineering Entrance tests. Directly or indirectly, the scheme facilitates eligible female students to acquire a seat for admission in top-rated engineering colleges in India.