NEW DELHI: A section of Islamic jurists (muftis) led by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind have passed a fatwa declaring the government’s Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna (SSY) “unlawful in Islam”.

All schemes like the Centre’s “Sukanya Samriddhi Account Yojana” for the girl child are “illegal” under Islamic Sharia as interest is accrued on the money deposited in the bank.

200 muftis (Islamic scholars) from Darul Uloom Deoband, Nadawatul Ulama, Lucknow, Jamia Qasmia Shahi, Muradabad and different Islamic institutions across the country participated in the three day conference here in the Capital.

The resolution states that “under ‘Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana’ a bank account is opened in the name of girl child of less than ten years of age by her parents. The parents keep on depositing money in the account for certain age of the child. The bank annually increases the amount by adding annual interest up to nine percent etc. It is because that this scheme involves interest; it is clearly un-Islamic.”

Kamal Faruqui from the All India Muslim Personal Law Board explained, “Islam calls for earning through business and participataory transaction. It does not approve of living off interest generated out of Capital sitting in a bank,” he added, reported Times Of India.

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) is a small deposit scheme for the girl child launched by PM Modi in 2015 as a part of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign.