Atal Pension Yojana Benefits and Advantages
India’s Finance Minister declared the introduction of a new scheme in his 2015-16 Budget Speech. The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is directed towards the citizens working in the unorganized sector who desire to join the National Pension System (NPS). However, one important requisite of the scheme is that individuals interested in benefiting out of APY should not be a member of any other social security system.
The Atal Pension Yojana, which is estimated to take-off from 1st June, 2015, has advantages like fixed pension for the subscribers. The amount of pension received can be between Rs. 1000 to Rs. 5000 depending on the age at which the contributor joins the scheme. Any Indian citizen between the age of 18 and 40 years can apply for this scheme. If the subscriber joins early the amount to be paid towards the scheme would be low and if he/she joins late, the amount would increase accordingly.
The APY will benefit citizens by providing them security during their old age. Additionally it will also encourage the culture of investment and saving among the lower middle and poor strata of the society.
Another benefit of the scheme is that every year (for a period of five years) the Indian government would contribute 50 percent of the user’s contribution or INR 1000 (whichever is less) towards the scheme. This facility can be enjoyed by those subscribers who join the scheme before December 31, 2015 and those who are not income tax payers.
The APY will address the old age income security of the 88% of the total labour force that constitute the workers in unorganised sector. It will also encourage these workers to join the National Pension System.
Besides the Atal Pension Yojana, the government of India also launched two separate insurance schemes recently. These are namely, the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana. These insurance schemes will benefit a large population of the country who are without a cover of any kind.
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