Regarding ‘Atal Pension Yojana’, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- It is a minimum guaranteed pension scheme mainly targeted at unorganized sector workers.
- Only one member of a family can join the scheme.
- Same amount of pension is guaranteed for the spouse for life after subscriber’s death.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2016 Prelims]
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (c)
Explanation:
- Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is a pension scheme introduced by the Government of India in 2015–16 to provide pension benefits to individuals in the unorganized sector.
- The scheme is regulated by the Pension Funds Regulatory Authority of India (PFRDA).
- It is available for individuals between the ages of 18 and 40 and offers periodic pension options ranging from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 5,000, based on monthly contributions.
- In the event of the subscriber’s death before reaching 60 years of age, their spouse has the choice to continue receiving the pension or withdraw the accumulated corpus.
- The spouse will receive the same pension amount even after the subscriber’s death.