Atal Pension Yojana extended till FY31: Atal Pension Yojana (APY), launched by the Government of India, provides an option of a guaranteed minimum monthly
pension of Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000, Rs 3,000, Rs 4,000, or Rs 5,000 after attaining the age of 60 years. It's a voluntary, contribution-based system where subscribers pay periodically, and benefits include guaranteed payouts for life, spouse pension, and return of corpus to the nominee, ensuring old-age income. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday (January 21) approved the continuation of the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) until the financial year 2030-31, along with the extension of government funding support for promotional, developmental and gap-funding requirements under the scheme. According to the government, continued support will be extended for awareness generation, outreach, and capacity-building initiatives to expand the scheme’s coverage among workers in the unorganised sector. The scheme will continue up to 2030-31 with Government support for promotional and developmental activities to expand outreach among unorganised workers, including awareness and capacity building, gap funding to meet viability requirements and ensure sustainability of the scheme.
Atal Pension Yojana extended till FY31: Major impact
- Ensures old-age income security for millions of low-income and unorganised sector workers.
- Enhances financial inclusion and supports India’s transition to a pensioned society.
- Strengthens the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047 by providing sustainable social security.
Atal Pension Yojana extended till FY31: Benefits
Benefits under Atal Pension Yojana (APY) on attaining 60 years of age include:
- The subscriber will receive a lifelong guaranteed minimum pension ranging fromRs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per month.
- After the death of the subscriber, the same pension amount will be paid to the spouse.
- After the death of both the subscriber and spouse, the accumulated pension corpus up to the age of 60 years will be returned to the nominee.
Atal Pension Yojana extended till FY31: Eligibility
1. To open an APY account, the subscriber must be an Indian citizen and should be between 18 and 40 years of age.
2. From 1 October 2022, any citizen who is or has been an income tax payer (under the Income Tax Act, 1961) shall not be eligible to join the APY scheme.
3. A subscriber can enrol in APY through a bank branch/post office or through digital onboarding provided by the bank.
4. At the time of opening an APY account, nomination and spouse details are mandatory.
5. Contributions can be made monthly, quarterly, or half-yearly through the auto-debit facility from a savings bank account.
