Atal Pension Yojana enrolments cross 4 crore
Premium- Of the total enrolments under APY as of March end, nearly 80% subscribers have opted for the ₹1,000 pension plan and 13% for ₹5,000 pension plan
NEW DELHI: Total enrolments in the Union government’s social security scheme Atal Pension Yojana (APY), aimed at workers in the unorganised sector, crossed 4 crore by the end of fiscal 2021-22.
More than 99 lakh APY accounts were opened during FY22, taking the number of subscribers to 4.01 crore at end the end of March, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) said in a release on Thursday.
According to PFRDA, the scheme has been successful due to the active participation of all categories of banks.
Around 71% of enrolments were done by public-sector banks, 19% by regional rural banks, 6% by private sector banks, and 3% by payments and small finance banks, as per government data.
State Bank of India, Indian Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Central Bank of India achieved annual target among public-sector banks.
Apart from banks, nine state level banker's committees--Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, West-Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Tripura--also achieved annual targets under APY.
Of the total enrolments under APY as of March end, nearly 80% subscribers have opted for the ₹1,000 pension plan and 13% for ₹5,000 pension plan. Of the total APY subscribers, 44% are women and 56% men, and 45% subscribers fall in the 18-25 year age group.
Last year in his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech in August 2021 had emphasized on the saturation of the government's social security schemes including Atal Pension Yojana to each and every entitled person.
PFRDA plans to target Jan Dhan accounts holders, promote digital mode of enrolment, involve central ministries, state governments, and agencies like NRLM/ SRLM for APY outreach programmes.
Atal Pension Yojana is a guaranteed pension scheme of the Union government, and administered by PFRDA. The scheme allows any Indian citizen, aged 18-40 years to join through a bank or post office branches where one has the savings bank account. Under the scheme, a subscriber would receive a minimum guaranteed pension of ₹1000 to ₹5000 per month from the age of 60 years, depending upon the contribution. The same pension would be paid to the spouse of the subscriber after the demise of subscriber and on demise of both the subscriber and spouse, the pension wealth as accumulated till age 60 of the subscriber would be given to the nominee.