What Is Mahila Samman Saving Certificate? PM Modi Urges Women To Enrol For Scheme

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently took to Twitter to urge women to enrol for the Mahila Samman Savings Certificate scheme that the union government announced as a part of 2023-24 budget. The scheme aims at providing better returns on their savings and financial independence.

A few days back, Smriti Irani, Minister of Women and Child Development in the Union Government went to Sansad Marg post office in Delhi to open her MSSC account and encourage other women to do so as well.

The scheme was announced by Nirmala Sitharaman as a part of the current budget and was brought into effect from April 1, 2023. Currently, all 1.59 lakh post offices in the country are providing this scheme for women. Here's all you need to know about the scheme.

Suggested Reading: Union Budget 2023: Nirmala Sitharaman Announces New Savings Scheme For Women

What Is Mahila Samman Savings Certificate?

The Mahila Samman Saving Certificate is a small savings scheme and a one-time opportunity given to women of all ages as a part of observing Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

In this scheme, women can open an account in the post office to deposit their savings up to 2 lakh rupees for a tenure of two years and get an interest of 7.5 percent per annum.

The Mahila Samman Saving Certificate scheme does not have credit risk as it is backed by the Union Government. A woman can also open a second savings account under this scheme but only after three months of the opening of the first account. The same applies for the guardian of a girl child.

Along with higher interest rates than other small savings schemes, MSSC also has a simple application process. Applicants can either get the application form from their nearest post office or download it from Indian Post's official website.

They have to fill in their details and submit the form along with KYC documents and the post office will give them a passbook for their account. The minimum amount to be deposited is 1000 rupees while the maximum is 2 lakhs rupees.

The maturity period of the account is two years but the account holder gets the provision to withdraw 40 percent of the amount deposited in the account one year after the opening of the account. The Mahila Samman Savings Certificate aims to encouraging women to avail the benefits of interest on their however small savings and empower them financially.