Governance
Atal Pension Yojana
- 12 May 2020
- 3 min read
Why in News
The flagship social security scheme of the Government of India - ‘Atal Pension Yojana’ (APY) - has completed five years of implementation and garnered over 2.2 crore subscribers.
Key Points
- Target Segment: The scheme was launched on 9th May, 2015, with the objective of creating a universal social security system for all Indians, especially the poor, the under-privileged and the workers in the unorganised sector.
- Administered By: Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority through National Pension System (NPS).
- Eligibility: Any citizen of India can join the APY scheme. The age of the subscriber should be between 18-40 years. The contribution levels would vary and would be low if a subscriber joins early and increases if she joins late.
- Benefits:
- It provides a minimum guaranteed pension ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 5000 on attaining 60 years of age.
- The amount of pension is guaranteed for lifetime to the spouse on death of the subscriber.
- In the event of death of both the subscriber and the spouse, the entire pension corpus is paid to the nominee.
- Tax Benefits: Contributions to the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) are eligible for tax benefits similar to the National Pension System (NPS).
- Analysis:
- The scheme has been implemented comprehensively across the country covering all states and Union Territories with male to female subscription ratio of 57:43.
- However, only 5% of the eligible population has been covered under APY till date.
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
- Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is the statutory Authority established by an enactment of the Parliament, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the National Pension System (NPS).
- It works under the Department of Financial Services under the Ministry of Finance.
National Pension System
- NPS is a government-sponsored pension scheme. It was launched in 2004 for government employees.
- Now, any individual citizen of India (both resident and non-resident) in the age group of 18-65 can join NPS.
