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oi-Aditi Murkute
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) reported that a total of 5.20 crore people enrolled to Atal Pension Yojana by March 31, 2023 and the asset under management stood at over Rs 27,200 crore.
During the fiscal year 2022-23, the new subscribers enrolment number grew by 20 per cent to 1.19
compared with the 99 lakh new subscribers enrolled in 2021-22, according to a statement released by PFRDA.
PFRDA said in its statement that, “as on date, the total assets under management (AUM) in APY is more than Rs 27,200 crore and the scheme has generated investment return of 8.69 per cent since the inception of the scheme.”
As per the statement, nine public sector banks achieved the annual target, while Bank of India, State Bank of India (SBI), and Indian Bank sourced more than 100 APY accounts per branch.
Among the regional rural banks category, 32 banks achieved the annual target, while Jharkhand Rajya Gramin Bank, Vidharbha Konkan Gramin Bank, Tripura Gramin Bank and Baroda Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank sourced more than 160 APY accounts per branch.
Also, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank and Airtel Payments Bank achieved annual target allocated by Ministry of Finance. Further, 12 states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Uttarakhand also achieved their annual targets with the help and support of their respective State Level Banker’s Committee (SLBCs).
What is Atal Pension Yojana?
The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) was announced in the Budget 2015-16. It is a central government scheme for income security in the old age and is focused on all citizens in the unorganised sector, to encourage and enable people to save for their retirement. The scheme is administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) through the National Pension System (NPS) architecture.
PFRDA is always committed to contributing towards pension saturation in the country and shall continuously undertake proactive initiatives for achieving it.
What are its features?
Under APY as subscriber you would be entitled to receive a lifelong minimum guaranteed pension ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per month from the age of 60 years. It varies as per your contributions and age of joining the APY.
In case of your demise, the same pension would be paid to your spouse. the demise of both the subscriber and spouse, the pension wealth as accumulated till age 60 of the subscriber would be returned back to the nominee.
Additionally, the central government contributes 50 per cent of the your (subscriber) contribution or Rs 1,000 per annum, whichever is lower. Government co-contribution is available for those who are not covered by any Statutory Social Security Schemes and is not income tax payer.
Atal Pension Yojana is applicable to all citizens of India aged between 18 and 40 years.
