BackAtal Pension Yojana enrolment crosses 2-crore mark, aims to add 25 lakh by March
Enrolment of first 1 crore subscribers took around 3 years while enrolment of next 1 crore enrolment took only one and a half yearsUnder the scheme, the government covers workers in unorganised sector between the age of 18 and 40
PremiumTotal enrolment under the government’s flagship pension scheme Atal Pension Yojana (APY) recently crossed the 2-crore mark after 9 lakh subscribers were added to it in November. PFRDA aims to expand the subscribers base under APY to 2.25 crore by March 2020.
“The primary reason for the uptick in enrolment was due to the creation of awareness among target population regarding its three major benefits--a guaranteed pension for the subscriber, same pension to the spouse after death of the subscriber and return of accumulated corpus to the nominee after death of the both subscriber and the spouse," according to a government press release.
Enrolment of first 1 crore subscribers took around 3 years while enrolment of next 1 crore enrolment took only one and a half years, indicating the increased pace of APY enrolment, the release said.
Under the scheme, the government covers workers in unorganised sector between the age of 18 and 40. Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) regulates the scheme that provides minimum guaranteed monthly pension of ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 from the age of 60.
Until November of this fiscal, more than 46 lakh APY accounts were added, a growth of around 30% compared with the same period last year. Out of the 46 lakh new APY accounts, more than 36 lakh accounts were sourced from public-sector banks, around 7 lakh accounts from regional rural banks and more than 3 lakh accounts from private sector and payment banks, the release said.
So far in the current financial year ending March 2020, India’s largest public-sector lender, State Bank of India (SBI), accounted for more than 13.5 lakh APY accounts followed by Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India. While in terms of average account per branch or AAPB, Indian Bank sourced highest APY accounts followed by SBI and Bank of India.
In the payments bank category, Airtel Payments Bank got more than 2 lakh APY accounts, while Axis Bank Ltd and HDFC Bank Ltd were the top contributors among privates sector banks in terms of number of enrolments.
“There is a long way to go as currently there are around 45 crore people in the unorganised sector. However, the target of providing pension coverage to such people can be achieved with the government’s support," the release said.
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