Amid drop in savings account rates, govt promotes Atal Pension Yojana with 8% returns

While the private banks  are slashing the saving accounts rate to 3.5%, the government-led scheme Atal Pension Yojana scheme is offering rate of 8% return to its subscribers and even more high returns if the subscriber invests in the scheme for 20-42 years. 

Till now, since its launch in 2015, the government has managed to add 62 lakh accounts under the scheme. 

To help the unorganised sector of the country, the government had launched "Atal Pension Yojana" two years ago. The scheme was launched to encourage individuals from the weaker section to opt for pension, which would immensely benefit them during their old age. The Atal Pension Yojana scheme can also be taken by individuals working in private sector organisations or by anyone who is self-employed. 

Ministry of Finance on Wednesday said that a total of 3.7 lakh Atal Pension accounts have been sourced under One Nation One Pension through APY Service Provider Banks.

Giving numbers of private banks which helped in sourcing, the Ministry said, out of the total amount, State Bank of India sourced 51,000 APY accounts, Canara Bank sourced 32,306 APY accounts, Andhara Bank sourced 29,057 APY accounts, Karnataka Bank sourced 2,641 accounts. Among Regional Rural Bank (RRBs), Allahabad UP Gramin Bank at 28,609 accounts followed by Madhya Bihar Gramin Bank at 5,056 APY accounts , Baroda Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank at 3,013 APY accounts, Kashi Gomti Samyut Gramin Bank at 2,847 APY accounts & Punjab Gramin Bank at 2,194 APY accounts.

The Ministry mentioned that the rise in enrollements under the scheme is attributed to financialisation of assets and driving the people to pension products which has government's implicit guarantee to give an assured pension to the subscriber, spouse and return of corpus to the nominee.

APY is administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) under the National Pension System (NPS). The Ministry said that Department of Financial Services and PFRDA has been organising campaigns to spread awareness. 

"Department of Financial Services in association with PFRDA has been organizing various APY campaigns to give thrust through which the population not covered by any pension scheme is approached by APY Service Provider banks and Department of Posts to inform about the salient features and benefits of the APY scheme and are encouraged to get enrolled in the scheme" the Ministry said.

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