Pradhan Mantri Atal Pension Yojana Details
The interim budget has brought many good news for the masses and for people who belong to the weaker sections of the society along with those who actually need welfare schemes. One such welfare scheme started by the current government is Atal Pension Yojana.
Atal Pension Yojana is great news for those who are working in unorganized sector and are not covered under any pension scheme. This way, they would enjoy pension facilities in the times of old age by paying a very low premium.
Those who are working in small scale industries mostly work on daily wages and thus are not able to save for their future. The union government started Jan Dhan Yojana scheme which promised a bank account for every Indian. That was followed by Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and Atal Pension Yojana that promised an insurance cover and pension scheme to needy people respectively.
Atal Pension Yojana was launched by the Finance Minister and would come in to effect as on 01st June 2015. It would carry forward the much popular campaign, Swavalamban Scheme.
Atal Pension Yojana is a scheme started and governed under the PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority) and every enrollment agency that is registered with the authority would carry out the Atal Pension Scheme.
Eligibility
Any Indian national between the age group of 18 years to 40 years is eligible to join Atal Pension Yojana. Since, pension starts from the age of 60 years, the minimum contribution that anyone has to do is at least 20 years.
The individual should have an active saving bank account and should not be a member of any other statutory social security scheme. Read More for APY Eligibility
Mode of payment of premium under
It is mandatory for all subscribers to have a saving bank account in order to contribute to their pension scheme. The monthly premium for their pension scheme would be auto-debited from their saving bank account.
Benefits
As per Atal Pension Yojana, anyone who joins the scheme between the age group of 18 to 40 years is entitled for a pension of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000. The sooner an individual joins the scheme, the more he/she would be eligible for the pension amount, depending on the yearly contributions done to the pension account. Read More for APY Benefits
Target population
The scheme is best suited for those working as workers in unorganized sector and not availing any other social security scheme. Thus, they could start investing in little amounts for the scheme while they are earning and secure their old age to a larger extent. Read More for Target Audience.
Enrollment Agencies
All Service providers and aggregators which were involved in Swavalamban Scheme would be assigned the role for enrollment of the scheme.
The scheme is being administered by PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority) and the enrollment would be taken care under the supervision of NPS (National Pension System).
Other Features
Atal Pension Yojana guarantees a fixed pension to the subscriber. The fixed pension would be backed by the government and may range anywhere from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000. The government would contribute fifty per cent of the contribution amount or Rs 1,000 annually, whichever is lesser, for a period of five years and rest would be contributed by the subscriber.
Illustrations for Pension under the scheme
We would take an example here for you to better understand the scheme. If a subscriber want to avail a pension of Rs 1,000 per month after the age of 60 years and is currently at the age of 18 years, he/she would have to contribute Rs 42 every month. If he/she wants a pension of Rs 5,000 per month, he/she would have to contribute Rs 210 every month.
On the other hand, if the subscriber wants to avail a pension of Rs 1,000 per month if he is currently at the age of 40 years, he/she would have to contribute Rs 291 every month and Rs 1,454 if he/she wants to avail a pension of Rs 5,000 per month.
Why should you be reading this?
After getting all these information on Atal Pension Yojana, you may wonder as to why you are reading this and what is there for you in it. Well, as a matter of fact, the scheme is primarily relevant for those working in unorganized sectors, mostly as daily wage workers. They do not have access to internet and may not be reading this.
Therefore, as our social obligation, we all could educate those eligible and interest around us so that they can get benefit out of the scheme and can start saving for their old age. Until and unless we all contribute this way towards this scheme, Atal Pension Yojana is never going to be a complete success.
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