Gross enrollments under Atal Pension Yojana cross 7 crore mark

The total gross enrollments under the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) have crossed 7 crore, with an enrolment of over 56 lakh in the current fiscal (FY25) to date, according to the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) on Tuesday.

APY is a guaranteed pension scheme by the government and regulated by PFRDA.

“The scheme is in its 10th year of rollout, and has achieved a big milestone,” said the authority.

Focused on unorganised sector workers, the pension scheme provides a guaranteed minimum pension of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per month based on contributions. The APY ensures a dignified life in old age for unorganised workers, addressing their financial insecurities and garnering their support.

A flagship social security scheme of the government, the scheme was launched on May 9, 2015 with an aim to create a universal social security system for all Indians, especially the poor, the underprivileged and the workers in the unorganised sector.

“This feat of bringing in the most vulnerable sections of society under the coverage of pension has been made possible with the untiring efforts of all the banks and SLBCs/UTLBCs,” said PFRDA.

In the recent past, the regulatory authority has taken several initiatives for awareness creation of the scheme -- conducting APY outreach programmes at state and district levels, organising awareness and training programmes, publicity through various media channels and regular performance review.

APY provides ‘Sampurna Suraksha Kavach’ to not only the subscriber by providing a life-long defined and guaranteed pension amount, but also to the spouse by providing the same pension amount after the demise of the subscriber and then to the family by returning the entire corpus (accumulated till the age of 60 years) to the nominee after the death of the subscriber and spouse.