Atal Pension Yojana Likely To Miss December Target
The pension scheme launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shree Narendra Modi called Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is losing its target which was to get 200 million accounts under this scheme by December. It has only managed to get only one million subscribers at and December month is about to end. This scheme was launched along with many other social security and financial security schemes like Suraksha Bima Yojana, Jeevan Bima Yojana, MUDRA Yojana, etc. under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
Atal Pension Yojana provides pension support to the Indian masses, especially for those who do not have employment security and less or no retirement facilities. This scheme is ideal for the lower income class of people. A little investment in the Atal pension account per month will result in monthly pensions in return after attaining 60 years of age. The investments are very low, compared to other pension policies available in the market.
So they are quite affordable for the lower income groups. Per month investment can be done from Rs. 42 to maximum Rs. 210. This will result monthly pension of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 2,000, Rs. 3,000, Rs. 4,000 and Rs. 5,000 as per contribution, after 60 years. According to sources, the working pace under Atal Pension Yojana is getting very slow in spite of a good start after its launch. The December end target to get more than 200 million subscribers to this pension scheme is out of reach as of now because only 5 % of the target is fulfilled till now. But the other policies under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana are doing well and giving satisfied results.
According to reports from PFRDA, the main reason for the target miss of APY is that other schemes like endowment plans, money back schemes are very easy to sell but the pension schemes do not attract much subscribers due to their late returns. Some also feel that the scheme will serve no purpose after 30 years as the value of Rupee is decreasing day by day and mere two thousand or four thousand Rupees will not serve any purpose after that long period.
But the PFRDA is not losing hope and are up for the challenge to motivate people for joining this plan. The private sector banks are showing interest in this scheme and are trying to convince their customers to opt for this retirement scheme. Currently the Govt. is giving the policy along with a bonus offer according to which, the Govt. will pay half of the monthly pension deposit. This offer was earlier decided only for the subscribers up to Dec 31, 2015. But analyzing the present situation, the Govt. is willing to extend this offer even after Dec. 31 to attract more subscribers. Govt. is also planning to promote APY not only from the banks, but also through post offices so that more people can get its benefits. Also there has been an increase in advertisements for this scheme in print media and digital media.
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