Pension scheme for poors soon: PFRDA

The interim pension regulator PFRDA today said it will soon launch a new scheme, NSP Light, for the economically deprived sections of the society which will entail an annual contribution of just Rs 1,000.

The scheme follows an announcement by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in the current Budget.

"We are launching the NPS Light. It is a low-cost structure meant for addressing the pension needs for the economically deprived sections of the society. That scheme we are launching very shortly. We have kept the minimum contribution at Rs 1,000 annually," Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Chairman Yogesh Agarwal told PTI here today.

The NPS Light would be a low-cost pension scheme, he said, adding the effort would be to provide some kind of security cover to the very poor people. NGOs and micro-finance institutions would be engaged to ensure that the benefits of scheme reach the target group, he said.

Mukherjee in his Budget speech had said the government would contribute Rs 1,000 annually to each NPS account opened in 2010-11. The initiative, "Swavalamban", will be available for persons who join NPS, with a minimum contribution of Rs 1,000 and a maximum contribution of Rs 12,000 per annum during 2010-11, he had said.

Initially, the government launched the New Pension System for Central government employees joining service from January 1, 2004, but from May 1 last year it was extended to all citizens. However, the all citizens pension scheme received a lukewarm response and only around 8,000 subscribers joined the scheme in 14 months.

In the all citizens pension scheme, a subscriber has to make minimum contribution of Rs 6,000 annually.