Question 28 from UPSC CSE 2016 - Current
Affairs

Question

Regarding 'Atal Pension Yojana', which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. It is a minimum guaranteed pension scheme mainly targeted at unorganized sector workers.
2. Only one member of a family can join the scheme.
3. Same amount of pension is guaranteed for the spouse for life after subscriber's death.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Accepted Answer

Correct Option: C. 1 and 3 only

Strategy: - Evaluate statement 1 based on APY's primary objective: providing a minimum guaranteed pension to unorganized sector workers.
- Scrutinize statement 2's 'Only one member of a family' clause, recognizing it as an incorrect and overly restrictive condition for a broad social security scheme.
- Verify statement 3 by recalling the key benefit that the spouse receives the same pension amount upon the subscriber's death.
- Conclude that statements 1 and 3 are correct, and statement 2 is incorrect.

Key Info: ### Atal Pension Yojana (APY)
- **Launch:** Launched by the Government of India in June 2015, replacing the Swavalamban Yojana.
- **Objective:** To provide social security to workers in the unorganized sector by enabling them to save voluntarily for retirement and ensuring a minimum guaranteed pension.
- **Target Group:** Primarily aimed at individuals in the unorganized sector who are not members of any statutory social security scheme (e.g., EPF, NPS with government co-contribution).
- **Eligibility:** Any Indian citizen between 18 and 40 years of age with a bank account can join APY. Unlike statement 2, there is no restriction that only one member of a family can join; multiple eligible members from the same family can subscribe.
- **Guaranteed Pension:** Subscribers receive a guaranteed minimum pension ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per month upon attaining 60 years of age, depending on their contributions and age of joining.
- **Spouse Benefit:** Upon the subscriber's death, the same pension amount is guaranteed to the spouse for life. After the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, the accumulated pension wealth (corpus) is returned to the nominee.
- **Contribution:** Contributions are auto-debited from the subscriber's bank account. The contribution amount is determined by the subscriber's age at entry and the desired monthly pension amount.
- **Administration:** The scheme is administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) through National Pension System (NPS) architecture.

Answer

Option A: 1 only

Answer

Option B: 2 and 3 only

Answer

Option D: 1, 2, and 3