Perception and Satisfaction of Sukanya Samridhi Yojana (SSY) Account Holders: An Empirical Study of Selected Districts in Telangana

The role of education in empowering women is inevitable. Educated girls can be enlightened girls in many facets. Hence, periodically and time and again, possessive governments come up with a good number of programs, policies, schemes, and illustrative initiatives for girls’ education and their empowerment. The Sukanya Samridhi Yojana (SSY) is one such scheme, embarked upon with the aim of bringing a positive, qualitative, and constructive change in society through girl education and accreditation. Indeed, increasing the degree of autonomy and selfdetermination at the grassroots level by infusing concrete awareness and usage of numerous rural development schemes is true empowerment; for that, the government at different levels and its organized mechanism have been putting indefatigable efforts to accelerate the progress and development of women in India. Sukanya Samridhi Yojana (SSY) is one of the novel and most popular flagship schemes of the Government of India for the encouragement and development of girl children. This scheme was launched by our Honourable Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi on January 22, 2015, under the ‘Beti Bachhavo and Beti Padaavo (BBBP)’ program with the noble vision to provide opportunities for girl children for their higher education and to reduce the burden of marriage expenses on their parents. As of December 31, 2025, 4.53 crore accounts were opened against 4,20,420 accounts in the inception year 2015. Similarly, 3.33 lakh crore deposits were received as of December 31, 2025, against 123 crores in the year 2015. The present research indicates that the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) is perceived by 52% of users primarily as a social security tool for child marriage and higher education, rather than a wealthcreation vehicle, with a 25% awareness gap regarding features like tax benefits. Although 83% of respondents reported a positive impact on empowerment and satisfaction levels are high at 78%, significant administrative issues remain, particularly with transfer facilities, cited by 49% of respondents. Research indicates that post offices facilitate the majority of these accounts (over 83%), particularly in rural areas, effectively driving financial literacy among previously unbanked populations. Nearly half of all respondents (49%) identified transfer facilities as their primary grievance. After the detailed review of a good number of research works being undertaken by various scholars and academicians across the nations, a few works at the offshore level, and from the insights of the present study, it is found that the novel scheme is gaining momentous recognition and applause. However, there are certain research gaps on which more work has to be done, such as awareness insights over the scheme, motivational factors for opening accounts, the impact of demographic implications, and strengthening and improvising the policy framework further. Extending digital transfer facilities, grassroots-level workshops for bridging the awareness gap, automated reminders for payment, and grace periods for missed payments are a few other initiatives to boost the scheme and look forward to flying colors, the researcher opined.