Introduction In the state of Maharashtra, the “Sukanya” scheme has been launched in the state under the government decision dated 13th February 2014 with the aim of improving the education and health of girls, making financial provision for their bright future, preventing female foeticide, bringing positive thoughts in the society about the birth of girls, preventing child marriage and increasing the birth rate of girls as compared to boys. The benefits of the Sukanya scheme are admissible for girls born from 01st January, 2014. Also, the central government has launched the “Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao” scheme since February 2014. According to the 2011 census, 100 districts in India have been selected for this scheme. The scheme has been implemented in those districts where the birth rate of girls is low. In this centrally sponsored scheme, 10 districts of Maharashtra namely Beed, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Washim, Kolhapur, Osmanabad, Sangli, Jalna have been selected. The birth rate of girls in the state is 894 per 1000 boys. With the aim of creating a positive attitude in the society towards the birth of girls and increasing the birth rate of girls as compared to boys, the government has considered implementing a new scheme called "Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree" by merging the currently running Sukanya Yojana and superseding the above-referenced government decision in this regard, on the lines of the "Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao" scheme, to increase the birth rate of girls, provide them with education and ban child marriage. Accordingly, this scheme will continue to provide the benefits of the "Sukanya Yojana" to every girl born in a Below Poverty Line (BPL) family in all groups and above poverty line (APL) white ration card holder families in the entire state, in addition to which, the government has approved this scheme to provide additional benefits as given below from the birth of the girl child till the girl child attains 18 years of age. Nature of the scheme In the "Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree" scheme, the benefits of the scheme will be admissible to the following 2 types of beneficiaries. Type-1 beneficiaries She is an only daughter and her mother has adopted a family plan. Type-2 beneficiaries There is a girl and the mother has undergone family planning surgery after the second girl. In such a situation, both the girls will be entitled to Type-2 benefits. However, if there is a situation where there is one boy and one girl, the benefits will not be admissible. Under the 'Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree' scheme, the benefits of the previous "Sukanya" scheme will be maintained and the following additional benefits will be provided. Nature of benefit The scheme, "My Daughter Bhagyashree", will be implemented across the state. However, those who have one daughter and one son will not get the benefit of this scheme. Important stage Intention Condition Benefits Type-1 beneficiaries Type-2 beneficiaries First daughter Second daughter At birth To celebrate the birth of girls Birth registration required Rs. 5,000 Absolute Rs. 2,500/- 1. Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, a joint savings account will be opened in the name of the girl and her mother. This will enable them to avail accident insurance of Rs. 1.00 lakh and overdraft up to Rs. 5,000/-. 2. An insurance of Rs.21,200/- will be taken out with LIC in the name of the girl through the government. Also, an insurance amount of Rs.1.00 lakh will be given after the girl completes the age of 18 years. 3. Under the Central Government's Aam Aadmi Yojana implemented by the Life Insurance Corporation, the girl's destitute parents will be insured by depositing a nominal premium of Rs. 100/- per year from the amount deposited in the name of the said girl (Corpus Rs.21,200/-). In case of accident/death of the girl's parents, the following benefits will be admissible. a) Natural death-30,000/- a) Death due to accident-75,000/- e) In case of failure of two eyes or two limbs -75,000/- e) Failure of one eye or one organ due to accident 309, Goo/- A) Under the Shiksha Sahayog Yojana included in the Aam Aadmi Insurance Scheme, a scholarship of Rs. 600/- will be given to the said girl every 6 months, while the girl is studying in class IX, X, XI and XII. At the end of each year until the girl turns 5 years old. To provide quality nutrition, ensure that 1 egg per day or 200 ml of milk is given every day. Vaccination certificate from Anganwadi required from birth of girl child Rs. 2,000 per year for a total of Rs. 10,000/- for 5 years Both the girls will get Rs. 1,000/- per year each, totaling Rs. 10,000/- for 5 years. Primary School Admission (1st to 5th) For quality nutrition food and other miscellaneous expenses Certificate regarding the girl's school admission as well as attendance certificate from the concerned school are required. Rs. 2,500/- per annum Total 12,500/- per annum for 5 years Both the girls will get Rs.1,500/- per year each, totaling Rs.15,000/- for 5 years. Secondary and Higher Secondary School Admission (6th to 12th) For quality nutrition food and other miscellaneous expenses Certificate regarding the girl's school admission as well as attendance certificate from the concerned school are required. Rs.3,000/- per year, total Rs.21,000/- per year Both the girls will get Rs. 2,000/- per year for 7 years. At the age of 18 To get skill development, higher education and employment Affidavit from parents stating that the child is at least 18 years of age and unmarried. After the completion of the insurance period, Rs. 1.00 lakh will be given. Out of this, at least Rs. 10,000/- will be required to be spent on the skill development of the girl child. After the birth of a daughter A gift of encouragement to grandparents Mothers should start family planning after their first daughter. Gold coin (up to a maximum of Rs. 5,000/- and certificate) Not applicable Glory of the village Incentives to increase the sex ratio of boys to girls to above 1,000 It will be necessary to submit a certificate from the District Collector regarding the sex ratio and to spend the said amount for the development of the girl child in the village. The Gram Panchayat will be awarded a prize of Rs. 5,00,000/- by the Hon'ble Minister, Women and Child Development. Objectives of the scheme Preventing sex selection Increasing the girl child birth rate Ensuring the security of girls' livelihoods To create a permanent collective movement in society for equal status and educational promotion of girls. Encouraging and ensuring girls' education Involvement of local communities, women's councils, women's self-help groups, and youth councils in training Panchayat Raj institutions, urban local committees, and local level employees as key elements of social change. To coordinate various organizations and service providers at the district, taluka, and lower levels. General terms and conditions for the scheme "As the Sukanya Yojana has been included in the newly launched 'Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree' scheme, all the terms and conditions of the 'Sukanya Yojana' are being applied in the 'Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree' scheme. Also, the girls of the 'Sukanya Yojana' are being included in the 'Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree' scheme. This scheme will be applicable to two girls among the children born in Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Above Poverty Line (APL) (white ration card holders) families of all groups. The father of the girl must be a native resident of the state of Maharashtra. The birth registration certificate of the girl child will be required while applying to avail the benefits of the scheme. While availing the insurance benefit, the girl must have completed 18 years of age. She must also have passed the 10th standard examination and remain unmarried till she completes 18 years of age. If twins are born during the second delivery, both the girls will be eligible for the scheme as per Type-2. If a family has adopted an orphan girl, the said girl will be considered as their first daughter and the benefit of this scheme will be permissible. However, to avail the said benefit, the age of the adopted girl should be between 0 and 6 years (6 or less). This scheme will be permissible for orphan girls in orphanages. It will be mandatory for Type-1 beneficiary families to undergo family planning surgery after the birth of one girl child and for Type-2 beneficiary families after the birth of two children. Under this scheme, out of the Rs. 1,00,000/- to be received from LIC after 18 years, it will be mandatory to spend at least Rs. 10,000/- on skill development of girls so that the girl concerned gets employment and gets a permanent income. The benefits mentioned in Phase-2, Phase-3 and Phase-4 of the said scheme will be paid to the beneficiary in the form of nutritional food and commodities. Beneficiaries whose accounts are under the Jan Dhan Yojana will automatically be able to get the benefits under the Jan Dhan Yojana. This scheme will be linked with Aadhaar. If the girl gets married or dies before the prescribed period (before completing 18 years of age), her parents will not get the benefit of this scheme, and the amount deposited in the bank account in the girl's name will be shown as a deposit in the Surplus Account or account in the name of the Government of Maharashtra. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) will issue a new policy on behalf of the Maharashtra Government, in which there will be a separate account for each beneficiary girl, and the Surplus account will be activated in the following situations. If the corpus in the name of an individual girl exceeds Rs. 1 lakh, the excess amount will be credited to this account. In case of premature marriage or death, the amount in the name of the daughter will be credited to the Consolidated Fund (Corpus) Surplus g|(RTICIV. If the Corpus is less than Rs. 1 lakh, the remaining amount will be credited from the Surplus account. In the form of this scheme, if the beneficiary is getting the benefits of the phase mentioned in paragraph 2 from the scheme of another department, then the benefits of this scheme will not be admissible. Under the said scheme, the beneficiary family will be given cash in the form of cash to celebrate their birthday in Phase-1 of paragraph number 2. Also, the benefits mentioned in the remaining phases will be given in the form of nutritional food and goods. Mechanism for implementation of the scheme and procedure for application To avail the benefits under this scheme, the parents of the girl child should register the name of the girl child in the concerned Gram Panchayat / Municipality / Municipal Corporation after the birth of the girl child and then submit the application in Form-'A' or 'B' to the Anganwadi Worker of that area. Along with the application, proof that the father is a native resident of the state (Domicile Certificate) and Birth Registration Certificate, proof of being below poverty line (Ration Card / Income Certificate), if the beneficiary family wants to avail the benefit of Type-1, a certificate stating that family planning surgery has been done after the birth of the first child (girl child). Also, a certificate from the Medical Officer stating that family planning surgery has been done while applying for a girl child with a second child should be submitted. All the applications required for this scheme will be available free of cost in the offices of every Rural and Urban Child Development Project Officer, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Child Welfare), Zilla Parishad, District Women and Child Development Officer, Divisional Deputy Commissioner (Women and Child Development) in the state. The said application should be scrutinized by the Anganwadi Worker and the said application should be submitted by the Anganwadi Worker to the Supervisor/Chief Worker. The Anganwadi Supervisor/Chief Servant should examine the application and the details and submit the consolidated list to the Child Development Project Officer every month for urban projects and to the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Child Welfare), Zilla Parishad, through the Rural Child Development Project Officer for rural projects, for approval. The concerned Child Development Project Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Child Welfare) will voluntarily inspect a large number of settlements and after their satisfaction, approve the beneficiary list. Thereafter, after verification within a period of one month, the Child Development Project Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Child Welfare) will deposit an amount of Rs. 21,200/- with LIC and pay other permissible amounts by cheque in the name of the mother of the concerned girl. After the birth of a girl child, after registering her name, the application can be made to the Anganwadi Worker/Chief Worker/Child Development Project Officer of that area, in the case of institutions under the Women and Child Development Department, the District Women and Child Development Officer. All the applications required for the above scheme should be made available free of cost in the offices of every Rural and Urban Child Development Project Officer, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Child Welfare), Zilla Parishad, District Women and Child Development Officer, Divisional Deputy Commissioner (Women and Child Development) in the state. The applications filled in with complete details by the applicants along with the documents should be accepted by the above-mentioned concerned officers up to the prescribed period of one year from the date of birth of the girl child. In the case of adopted girls, they should be accepted up to the prescribed period of 6 years. If the application is not filled in completely or does not include all the certificates, the applicant should be informed within 15 days of receipt of the application. In case the applicants fill the incomplete application or do not attach the necessary documents, such applicants will be given an additional period of one month in addition to the above period. However, in no case can any application be kept pending for more than 2 months. To provide the benefit of LIC scheme to the girl, after the approval of the concerned Child Development Project Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Child Welfare), the girl's parents will open a bank savings account under Jan Dhan Yojana and inform the details thereof to the concerned Child Development Project Office. After receiving the said application, within 30 days / in exceptional circumstances within 60 days, after verification, the District Women and Child Development Officer / Child Development Project Officer / Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Child Welfare) will contact the office of the Life Insurance Corporation (P&GS Unit) of the concerned department by filling the information in the prescribed format in Form - 'C' attached. Forms / Application Form Click on the link below to download the relevant form/application form. Form - A - (Form of application to be made by the parents of the girl child on behalf of her child to the Child Development Project Officer for urban projects and Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Child Welfare) for rural projects, District Women and Child Development Officer for institutions under the Zilla Parishad and Women and Child Development Department to avail benefits under the "Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree" scheme) Form - B (Sample of application to be made to the Superintendent of the institution and the District Women and Child Development Officer at the orphanage/child care home or other residential institution under the Women and Child Development Department under the scheme "Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree") Form - C (Sample of information to be submitted to the insurance company by the parents of the girl child to the Child Development Project Officer in case of urban projects and Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Child Welfare) in case of rural projects, District Women and Child Development Officer in case of institutions under the Zilla Parishad and Women and Child Development Department in case of institutions under the "Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree" scheme) Form 'D'-1: Prescribed form for application by eligible beneficiaries under Aam Aadmi Insurance Schemes to the Insurance Authority: - Part A) Information to be filled by the beneficiaries Form 'D'-2 - Prescribed format of application for scholarship under Shiksha Sahayog Yojana Source: Government Decision No.: Ebavi-2015/Pr.No.54 (Part-2)/Ka.6, Dated 26th February 2016, Women and Child Development Department, Government of Maharashtra