Atal Pension Yojana has over 1.9 cr subscribers now

The Atal Pension Yojana (APY), a flagship pension scheme of the government to cover the workers in the unorganised sector, has crossed 1.9 crore subscriber mark, pension sector regulator PFRDA said.

The primary reason for the uptick in enrollment was achievement of targets allocated to banks for opening of new APY accounts, it said in a statement.

"In this financial year, the response towards the enrollment of APY was overwhelming and more than 36 lakh APY accounts have been added till October 31, 2019 indicating a growth of 33 per cent in comparison to 26 per cent growth during the corresponding period, last fiscal," the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) said.

APY is being administered by the PFRDA.

Out of the 36 lakh new APY accounts, 27.5 lakh were sourced by public sector banks, 5.5 lakh accounts by regional rural banks and around 3 lakh accounts by private sector and payment banks.

Among public sector banks, State Bank of India contributed with nearly 11.5 lakh additions in APY accounts followed by Canara Bank and Bank of India.

In terms of average account per branch, SBI sourced highest APY accounts followed by Indian Bank and Bank of India.

Among RRBs, Baroda Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank, Dakshin Bihar Gramin Bank and Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank sourced maximum APY accounts, whereas in terms of average accounts per branch Tripura Gramin Bank, Maharashtra Gramin Bank and Baroda Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank topped the list.

In the payments bank category, Airtel Payments Bank has sourced around 1.8 lakh APY accounts so far in this fiscal, against the annual target of 50,000 APY accounts.

Under private sector bank category, HDFC Bank was the top contributor in terms of number of enrollments while Karnataka Bank was the best performer in terms of average account per branch.

The PFRDA has envisioned to expand the subscribers base under APY by targeting 2.25 crore people by March 2020, who belong to the unorganised sector and are not covered under any social security scheme, the statement said.

"There is a long way to go as currently there are around 45 crore people in the unorganised sector. However, with the government support the target of providing pension coverage to these many people can be achieved, albeit with other government social security schemes," it added.

The pension sector regulator has been organising various promotional campaigns and town hall meetings for the promotion of APY through banks and taking it to the next level and contribute towards making India a pensioned society.