Saturday 31 January 2015

Trade unions to decide on strike on Feb. 3

Return to frontpage
 
 
 

Friday 30 January 2015

Set of three stamps on Swachh Bharat is released by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble MOC&IT on 30.1.2015


The Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu along with the Union Minister for Communications & Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad and the Union Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh releasing the Postal Stamp on ‘Swachh Bharat’, in New Delhi on January 30, 2015.

Sukanya Samriddhi Account / Yojana - Highest fetching interest scheme across all schemes

 January 30, 2015 

Disclaimer :- The infrormation is compiled by Akula.Praveen Kumar, Marketing Executive, Medak HO, AP Circle. Author of blog does not accepts any responsibility in relation to the accuracy, completeness, usefullness or otherwise of the contents.

Sukanya Samriddhi Account/Yojana is a Small Savings Special deposit Scheme for girl child. This scheme is specially designed for girl’s higher education or marriage needs.


Highest fetching interest scheme across all schemes.


The Scheme launched for the welfare of the girl child, to save and educate the girl child.


http://sapost.blogspot.in/


·           Who can open the account? – Sukanya Samriddhi a/c (or Khata) can be opened on a girl child’s name by her natural (biological) parents or legal guardian.
·           What is the Age limit? – SSA can be opened in the name of a girl child from the birth of the girl child till she attains the age of ten years.
·           How many accounts can be opened? – A depositor may open and operate only one account in the name of same girl child under this scheme. The depositor (or) guardian can open only two SSA accounts. There is one exception to this rule. The natural or legal guardian can open two or three accounts if twin girls are born as second birth or triplets are born in the first birth itself.
·           How to open a SSA account? Accounts in name of the girl child can be opened in post offices or in any branch of a commercial bank that is authorized by the Central Government to open an account under this scheme rules.
·          What is the minimum deposit to open the account? – The account may be opened with an initial deposit of one thousand rupees. The minimum contribution in any financial year is Rs 1000. Thereafter the contributions can in multiples of one hundred rupees.
·          What is the maximum deposit amount? – a minimum of one thousand rupees shall be deposited in a financial year but the total money deposited in an account on a single occasion or on multiple occasions shall not exceed Rs 1.5 Lakh in a financial year.
·          Deposits in an account may be made till the child completes fourteen years, from the date of opening of the account.
·           Is there any penalty? – If minimum (Rs 1000 pa) amount is not deposited, the account will be treated as an irregular account. This can be regularized/renewed on payment of Rs 50 per year as penalty. Along with this, the minimum specified subscription for the year (s) of default should be paid.
·          What is the mode of deposit? – The deposits in Sukanya Samruddhi scheme can be made in the form of Cash or Demand Draft or Cheque. Where deposit is made by cheque or demand draft, the date of encashment of the cheque or demand draft shall be the date of credit to the account. The cheque or DD should be drawn in favour of the postmaster of the concerned post office or the Manager of the concerned bank.The depositor (parents or guardian) has to write the account holder’s name (child’s name) and the account number on the backside of the instrument.
·          What is the Rate of Interest on Sukanya Samriddhi Account? – The applicable rate of interest on SSA for the financial year 2014-2015 is 9.1%. This is one of the highest rates of interest offered by Government on small savings scheme
·          Is interest rate fixed or variable? – The rate of interest is not fixed and will be notified by the central government on a yearly basis.
·           The account can be transferred anywhere in India if the girl shifts to a place other than the city or locality where the account stands.
·            Is Premature withdrawal allowed? – 50 % (half of the fund) of the accumulated amount in SSA can be withdrawn for girl’s higher education and marriage after she attains 18 years of age. The account’s balance at the end of preceding financial year is used for the calculation.
·           Can the girl child operate the account? On attaining age of ten years, the account holder that is the girl child may herself operate the account, however, deposit in the account may be made by the guardian or parents.
·          Is premature closure allowed? In the event of death of the account holder, the account shall be closed immediately on production of death certificate. the balance at the credit of the account shall be paid along with interest till the month preceding the month of premature closure of the account , to the guardian of the account holder.
·         The scheme would mature on completion of 21 years of the girl child, from the date of opening of the account, with an option of keeping the account till marriage.
·           Can the girl child continue the account after her marriage? – The operation of the account shall not be permitted beyond the date of the girl’s marriage.
·            What are the required documents to open Sukanya Samriddhi Account? – Birth certificate of the girl child has to be produced. The depositor (parents or guardian) has to submit his/her identity and address proofs.
·          On opening an account, the depositor shall be given a pass book. It will have date of birth of the girl child, date of opening of account, account number, name and address of the account holder and the initial amount deposited. The depositor has to present the passbook to the post office or bank at the time of depositing/receiving the interest/on maturi

Tax Benefits on Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme

The amount that is deposited under Sukanya Samriddhi Account will be eligible for income tax exemption under Section 80C of Income Tax Act, 1961.
At present, only the contribution of up to Rs 1.5 lakh toward Sukanya Samridhi Yojana is eligible for tax deduction under Section 80C. But discussions are on to also exempt the interest income and withdrawal amount. We can expect a formal announcement on this in the coming Union Budget 2015-16.

(Issue of making interest income and withdrawal exempt from taxation can be done by Department of Revenue (DoR) through legislative amendments. The matter is under examination of DoR)


Sukanya Samriddhi Account vs Public Provident Fund (PPF)

Both Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSA) and Public Provident Fund (PPF) aims to seed the savings habit but both schemes have their own pros and cons.
Stressing on the girls role in making the India competitive and prosperous nation, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has today launched a new small savings account for the girl child “Sukanya Samriddhi Account” as an integral part of the “Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao” campaign.

Sukanya Samriddhi Account was initially introduced by Shri Arun Jaitely in his maiden budget speech but has been officially launched today by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He has handed over bank account details to five girls under the “Sukanya Samridhi Yojna” (girl child prosperity scheme).
Sukanya Samridhi Yojna is a special deposit scheme for girl child only but one another popular scheme to benefit child (irrespective of girl or boy) is Public Provident Fund (PPF).

Let’s see the difference between Sukanya Samriddhi Account and Public Provident Fund (PPF)

Sukanya Samriddhi Account vs Public Provident Fund (PPF)
Points of Difference
Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSA)
Public Provident Fund (PPF)
For whom
Only for Girl Child.
For every Indian Citizen.

Age Limit
From the birth till she attains age of 10 years.
No age limit.



By whom
By the girl child who has attained the age of 10 years or by the natural or legal guardian.
By the Individual but by the natural or legal guardian for the minor child.

Where to open
Post office and nationalized banks but not private banks.
Post office and nationalized banks, including private banks.


Number of Account
One account for each girl child, maximum up to 2 or 3 accounts if twin girls are born in the second birth or triplets are born in the first birth.
Each Individual can hold only one account in his name.

Minimum Contribution
    Rs.1,000
Rs.500

Maximum Contribution
   Rs.1.5 lakhs in all accounts.
Rs.1.5 lakhs in all accounts.
Interest Rate
9.1% per annum for fiscal year 2014-15.
8.70% per annum for fiscal year 2014-15.

Tax Benefit on the Contribution
Contributed Amount will be deductible u/s 80C.
Contributed Amount will be deductible u/s 80C.

Tax Benefit on the interest earned
At present no tax benefit is announced for the interest earned. A mere sum of Rs.1,5o0 will be deductible u/s 10(32) .
Interest Earned is tax free under PPF.

Time Period of contribution
Minimum tenure of contribution is 14 years from the date of opening of account.
Minimum 15 years and then in blocks of 5 years.


Maturity
21 years from the date of opening of account.
15 years from the fiscal year of opening of account.


Penalty
Rs.50 per year if minimum contribution is not made.
Rs.50 per year if minimum contribution is not made.

Mode of Deposit
Cash or Demand Draft or Cheque
Cash or Demand Draft or Cheque


Premature Withdrawal
Allowed up to 50% for the girl’s higher education and marriage after she attains 18 years of age
No premature withdrawal is allowed except in case of death of the account holder.



Loan
No loan can be taken on the SSA balance.
Loan can be taken from the third year of opening of account to the sixth year.

Taxation on Maturity
No tax will be levied on the maturity amount.
No tax will be levied on the maturity amount.

Note:

1.      Interest rate under both the schemes will be notified each year by the Government.
2.      Interest will be compounded yearly under both schemes.
3.      Loan on the PPF balance is restricted to 25% of the balance at the end of 2nd year.
4.      At present interest earned on SSA account is taxable in the hands of guardian but it may get tax rebate in the upcoming budget.

5.       Contributed amount get deduction u/s 80c up to Rs.1.5 lakhs including all other eligible investments.



India Post to launch own e-commerce portal like Amazon or eBay

Directly stepping into the cyber world, India post is going to launch its own e-commerce portal in the shape of those like Amazon or eBay soon. The aggressive step of India Post, world's largest postal service, is a part of its massive IT based modernization initiative worth Rs 5,000 crore.

"At planning and designing phase now, the final rollover of the dedicated postal e-commerce portal may take another 6 months. But we are excited about this new avatar in our service basket," Mr. John Samuel, member of Postal Services Board told ET.

As he describes, the portal will be like popular e-commerce entities like Amazon or eBay. A conduit between buyers and sellers. But, it is not going to be entirely open for any item to be traded by anyone. Rather a moderated and scrutinized list will be followed. Local specialties like Tea from Darjeeling, Mango from Malda in West Bengal or Saffron from Kashmir will have emphasize in that.

India Post is Tying up with different controlling authorities like Spices Board, Tea Board, or cashew Board to ensure 'quality trading of quality items only'- as Mr. Samuel puts it.

In addition to the physical products, services of different public sector are also being planned to be included into the tradable items of the portal.

"Wide and fast growing coverage of Internet through computer and mobile phones are bringing more and more people from even remote corners to the doorsteps of e-commerce. There lies our new opportunity. Moreover delivery of the items is a major issue for all e-commerce authorities. Here also India post excel's with its 1.5 lakh establishments and time tested connectivity network," he said.

In one hand we have Rs 4909 crore worth IT related infrastructure modernization plan and on the other hand, we are spending another Rs 2000 crore to have new vehicles to ensure faster delivery.

Indeed it is a new step to a new world that can give new life to financially crunched Indiapost. But, "We need to bring change in our own attitude at certain corners to churn out the best out of this initiative," accepted Mr. Samuel.

                  EDITORIAL-- DAK JAGRITI- FEB 2015


RAILWAYS, DEFENCE  AND  POSTAL  FOR  SALE
WE  SHALL  PREVENT  IT  AT  ANY  COST
              NDA Government which came to power at Centre seven months back, has proved that it is a Govt. of the Corporates, by the Corporates and for the Corporates.  In the Central Govt. employees sector none of the issues pertaining to the employees are settled - DA merger, Interim Relief, Inclusion of GDS under 7th CPC, Scrapping of New Pension Scheme, Casual Labourers issue, Cadre Restructuring in Postal, all are pending.  Over and above this, the Modi Government is moving fast ahead with privatisation and large scale outsourcing of the core functions of the Central Government departments.  The very existence of Government-run Central Government departments are under threat.
              On 22nd August 2014, the Modi Govt. amended the 1991 Govt. of India’s Policy resolution, replacing the words “Railway Transport” as “Railway Operations”.  Simultaneously, they also announced the induction of 100% FDI in Railways including operation, construction, design and maintenance.  Induction of FDI and consequent privatisation of Railways will endanger the job security of lakhs of Railway employees.
              The Defence production sector went in for partial privatisation when the UPA Government allowed FDI to the extent of 26% whereby the foreign arms manufacturers were permitted access to the vital defence sector, disregarding the national security perspective.  What is now decided by the present NDA Government is to allow 49% FDI in defence production.  The Government has decided to set up a Corporation to carry out the functions of 41 ordnance factories under the Ministry of Defence which is a big move to privatise defence production sector.  Eventually this will lead to closure of department - controlled defence production units, unable to face the unscrupulous competition from the Transnational Corporations, driving thousands of Defence employees and workers to unemployment and poverty.
              The Task Force set up by the Government under the Chairmanship of Shri. T.S.R. Subramanian, former Cabinet Secretary to the Govt. of India, has recommended to convert the core functions of the Postal Department into a Corporation called “India Post (Financial and other services) Corporation”.  Under this holding company five more subsidiary corporations will be formed, on the lines the Telecom was made into BSN, VSNL and MTNL.  The entire social obligations will be thrust upon the Postal Department while private players will eventually take the creamy part of Postal department such as Savings Bank, PLI/RPLI, Parcels, Packets and Logistics etc.  In the longer run, the public sector company so formed would be made to incur losses and ultimate closure, as is happening in the case of BSNL. Lakhs of Postal employees will be forced to go on VRS or will become jobless.
              Thus it is very clear that Modi Government has thrown a challenge to the Central Government employees in general and to Railway, Defence and Postal Workers in particular. We must accept the challenge and defeat the nefarious design of the Modi Government, with determination and with a do or die attitude.  We must not entertain any doubt of our ultimate victory in this battle.