The government has relaxed the norms for various small

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The government has relaxed the norms for various small savings schemes, including the Public Provident Fund (PPF) and Senior Citizen's Savings Scheme.   The amended Senior Citizen’s Savings (Fourth Amendment) Scheme, 2023, now allows depositors to extend their accounts multiple times upon maturity to benefit from its attractive interest rates for a longer period. The ministry has also amended the rules to allow premature closure of PPF account and changed the rules governing premature withdrawal under the National Savings Time Deposit scheme.  Earlier, depositors under the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme could renew the deposit under the scheme only once for just three years; now they can do it multiple times in blocks of three years.   The finance ministry has also allowed people to open such accounts within three months of receiving retirement benefit instead of just one month earlier, in a bid to woo more depositors. Spouses of government employees who die in harness after the age of 55 will now be allowed to open an account under this scheme.