The Government of India has introduced several saving schemes for people from all age groups to provide them with sufficient financial support in time of need. Among them, two of the most popular and common savings schemes include the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme which is a retirement benefit plan and the Mahila Samman Savings Certificate Scheme, a small savings scheme aimed to promote financial inclusion for women and girls in India.

To shed light on these crucial savings schemes, Mrin Agarwal, the Director at Finsafe India, delves into the intricacies of these financial instruments.

She explains, "In the small savings schemes landscape, you have a range of options, including post office schemes and the monthly income scheme, which compete for regular investments. However, the standout performers in this arena are the public provident fund, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, and various post office schemes like NSC, KVP, and the Mahila Samman Yojana, all of which fall under the category of small savings schemes."

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Further elaborating on the popularity of these schemes, Agarwal noted that two schemes, in particular, have garnered substantial investments—the Mahila Samman Yojana and the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme.

She added, “The senior citizen savings scheme has gotten a lot of inflows, because from first April, the amount that you could invest has been doubled, from ₹15 lakhs to ₹30 lakhs. Of course, the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana has been stopped. Because of the fact that one the maximum limit was increased, and to the interest rates are really attractive, because you are getting 8.2% yes, it's a taxable interest. But for senior citizens, I think you know, that psychological level of getting anything above 8% is really good returns for them. So this is a main reason as to why there has been so much of inflow in both of these schemes.”

For full interview, watch accompanying video

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(Edited by : Ajay Vaishnav)