Modi’s Atal Pension Yojana subscriber base touches 1 crore, and 40% are women – what you should know

Relaunched in 2015 in a new avatar by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Atal Pension Yojana (APY), the monthly pension scheme of the government, has now over 1 crore subscribers, of which 40% are women. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the Finance Ministry said that the number of subscribers under APY as on August 6, 2018 was 1,09,66,981, out of which, 43,87,993 subscribers are women.

Under this scheme, any Indian citizen, in the age group of 18 to 40 years is eligible for a monthly pension at the age of 60. The monthly pension could be Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000 depending on the contribution made by subscribers. The government will also co-contribute Rs 1,000 or 50% of the total contribution amount (whichever is lower) for a period of five years between financial years 2015 and 2020.

Indicative monthly chart. (Credit: PFRDA)

The scheme was relaunched in 2015 to encourage and enable working population of the unorganised sector to join the National Pension System (NPS) and voluntary save for retirement. Workers in the unorganised sector constitute 88% of the total labour force, as per NSSO survey 2011-12.

The scheme was first launched in 2010-11 by the UPA government under the name Swavalamban Scheme but was renamed and relaunched by the Modi government due to lack of pension benefits. The scheme is being administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).