Atal pension Yojana gets very few takers in the district

Other social security schemes do way better than APY

VAIBHAV PARWAT

Aurangabad, Jan 25:

Five years have passed since the Central government launched the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to provide pension to the majority of the unorganized sector workers across the country. However, the scheme has received a cold response in the district. So far, only 58,072 workers from the district have registered for this scheme.

The APY was launched on June 1, 2015 to provide pension to the workers in the unorganized sector after their retirement. There are nearly 5 lakh unorganized workers in the district. They have no means of income after their retirement. The government in 2011 had introduced the Swavlamban Yojana, but it lacked pension for those above 60 years. Hence in the 2015-16 finance budget, the government launched various social security schemes along with the APY. Under the APY, every worker who invests from Rs 43 to Rs 1452 for a specific period of years is entitled to a pension of Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000, Rs 3000, Rs 4000 and Rs 5000 after 60 years of age. The minimum age for joining the scheme is 18 years of age and maximum is 40 years. Participants are required to pay a minimum installment for 20 years and a maximum for 42 years for the scheme. The sooner the subscriber will join the scheme, the lower his installment, but will increase with age. The scheme is open to all bank account holders. However, in the last 5 years, there has been very little response to this scheme in the district.

Other schemes attract more takers

The contribution ranges from Rs 42 to Rs 1452 per month. Yet, the scheme which comes with a 50 per cent Central subsidy has very little takers compared to other products of the government. According to bankers, one reason for the slow take off could be that there is no clarity on the tax treatment of the scheme and lengthy lock-in period. The Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, a life insurance scheme has attracted 1.10 lakh subscribers and the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Scheme has attracted 2.6 lakh subscribers in the district.

Need of wide spread awareness

The enrollment for the scheme is very low in the district. The reason could vary from lack of financial literacy among people to a too long lock in period and low rate of return. Likewise, there is no clarity on the tax treatment of the scheme. This could also push people away from making any investment. Banks could have marketed the scheme in a better way. But bank officials are also under pressure with implementation of various government schemes like Jan Dhan, PMJJBY and other subsidy, launched one after the another, said Devidas Tuljapurkar, convenor United Forum of Bank Unions.

Year Subscribers

2015-16 16,075

2016-17 13,765

2017-18 12,804

2018-19 9,452

2019-20 5,976