Chief Minister's Girl Child Protection Scheme-I (Tamil Nadu)

What is the Chief Minister's Girl Child Protection Scheme-I?

Chief Minister's Girl Child Protection Scheme-I is a long-running child welfare measure of the Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, introduced in 1992. Under Scheme-I, the state places a fixed deposit of Rs 50,000 in the name of a girl child of a poor family that has one girl child and no son, pays an annual education incentive from the sixth year, and hands the girl the matured deposit with interest when she turns 18.

The department states the scheme's purpose as preventing gender discrimination by "helping and protecting rights of girl children through direct investment from Government", and lists its objectives as school enrolment and retention through the intermediate level, encouraging marriage only after 18, promoting family planning with two girls, providing social and financial support, and strengthening the family's role in improving the status of the girl child.

Behind that language is a specific history. Tamil Nadu introduced this scheme at a time when female infanticide and sex-selective practices were a documented and serious problem in parts of the state. A deposit in the daughter's own name, paid out to her at 18 and conditional on her sitting the class 10 board examination, attaches a concrete financial value to a daughter's survival and schooling. That is the logic of the design, and it explains the conditions that a family sometimes finds intrusive, the sterilisation requirement, the no-son condition, the class 10 examination requirement, each of which exists to make the incentive point in one direction.

The scheme runs in two variants and it matters which one a family falls under:

The deposit is held with the Tamil Nadu Power Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited and is renewed at the end of every five years until the girl turns 18. In Tamil the scheme is widely known by its transliterated name, Muthalvarin Penn Kuzhandhai Paadhukappu Thittam.

Who is eligible for Scheme-I?

A family can apply if:

• The family has one girl child and no male child. This is the defining condition of Scheme-I; a family with two daughters applies under Scheme-II instead.
• The annual family income does not exceed Rs 1,20,000, according to the department's own scheme page.
• A parent has undergone sterilisation, which the department requires to be done by the age of 40.
• The family; parents or grandparents: has been domiciled in Tamil Nadu for at least 10 years at the time of application.
• The girl child was born on or after 1 August 2011 for the current form of the scheme.
• The family undertakes that the girl will appear for the class 10 public examination, which the department states as a condition of receiving the benefit.

A family is not eligible if:

• There is a male child in the family. The whole scheme is built around families who have stopped at daughters, and the presence of a son takes the family out of both variants.
• Annual family income exceeds Rs 1,20,000.
• Neither parent has undergone sterilisation, or the sterilisation was done after the prescribed age.
• The family has not been domiciled in Tamil Nadu for the required 10 years.
• The girl child was born before the qualifying date for the current form of the scheme.
• The same girl child is already enrolled under this scheme or under Scheme-II.
• The family has three or more children, which places it outside the small-family premise of the scheme.

The girl herself will not receive the matured amount if she does not appear for the class 10 public examination, and this is the condition families most often discover late. It is worth writing down when the child is enrolled and remembering it a decade later.

What is actually paid, and when?

Two features are worth noticing. First, the principal is untouched by the annual incentive — the Rs 1,800 is paid on top, so that schooling costs do not eat into the corpus. Second, the money at 18 goes to the girl herself, not to the parents, which is the point of registering the deposit in her name.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Girl Child Protection Scheme-I

1. Obtain the girl child's birth certificate from the registrar of births and deaths, and check the date of birth against the current qualifying date.
2. Obtain the family income certificate from the Tahsildar or through an e-Sevai centre, showing annual income within Rs 1,20,000, and a nativity or residence certificate establishing 10 years' domicile in Tamil Nadu.
3. Obtain the sterilisation certificate for the parent who has undergone the procedure, from the government hospital or primary health centre where it was done.
4. Get the Village Administrative Officer's declaration that the family has one girl child and no male child.
5. Collect the application form from the anganwadi centre, the Integrated Child Development Services project office, or the District Social Welfare Office, and complete it.
6. Attach all documents; birth certificate, income certificate, sterilisation certificate, nativity certificate, Aadhaar of the child and both parents, ration card, VAO declaration and bank passbook.
7. Submit the application at the District Social Welfare Office, through the anganwadi worker or the ICDS supervisor, and collect a dated acknowledgement.
8. Preserve the deposit certificate issued in the girl child's name. It is the document against which the annual incentive and, eventually, the maturity amount are claimed, and replacing it is troublesome.
9. Claim the annual incentive from the sixth year, and apply for the maturity amount at 18 using the maturity application form available at the district office, attaching the class 10 hall ticket or mark sheet.

How to check the status and claim maturity

1. Quote the acknowledgement number or the deposit certificate number at the District Social Welfare Office.
2. Ask the anganwadi worker or ICDS supervisor, who normally holds the village record of enrolled girls.
3. Confirm the five-yearly renewal of the deposit has been done, since the deposit is renewed at the end of every five years and a missed renewal is worth catching early.
4. Apply for the maturity amount at 18 using the district's maturity application form, attaching the deposit certificate, the girl's Aadhaar, her bank passbook and evidence that she appeared for the class 10 examination.

Why applications and maturity claims fail

• A male child in the family. The most fundamental bar, and the reason families are asked for a VAO declaration.
• Income certificate above Rs 1,20,000, or expired. Obtain a current certificate reflecting actual family income.
• No sterilisation certificate, or sterilisation done outside the prescribed age. This is a substantive condition, not a formality.
• Domicile of less than 10 years in Tamil Nadu.
• Girl did not appear for the class 10 public examination. This defeats a maturity claim after 18 years of waiting, and it is entirely avoidable if the family knows about the condition from the start.
• Deposit certificate lost. Report it in writing to the District Social Welfare Office immediately; replacement takes time and identity verification.
• Name mismatch between the birth certificate, Aadhaar, the deposit certificate and the bank record. Fix spellings early, because the mismatch surfaces 18 years later at the worst possible moment.
• Bank account not in the girl's own name at maturity.

Help and grievance redressal

• Anganwadi worker and ICDS supervisor, the first point of contact in the village or ward.
• District Social Welfare Officer, the office that receives, sanctions and pays.
• Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department: tnsocialwelfare.tn.gov.in
• Tahsildar or e-Sevai centre, for income and nativity certificates; e-Sevai helpline 1800 425 6000.
• Childline: 1098
• Chief Minister's Special Cell: cmhelpline.tn.gov.in

The scheme is free. No payment should be made to any official or intermediary for enrolment, for the annual incentive, or for the release of the maturity amount, and any demand for money should be reported to the District Social Welfare Officer.