Swavalamban Scheme
Swavalamban Scheme, a co-contributory Pension Scheme, launched in September, 2010 to encourage people from the unorganized sector to voluntarily save for their retirement. The Central Government would contribute a sum of Rs. 1,000 in each National Pension System (NPS) account opened under the Scheme where the subscriber is able to save Rs.1,000 to Rs.12,000 during a financial year. The Government’s contribution is available upto Financial Year 2016-17. The scheme is for those citizens of India who are not part of any statutory pension/provident scheme. The target beneficiaries of Swavalamban Scheme are co-contributory scheme beneficiaries of State Governments, Aanganwaadi workers, Construction workers, Occupational classes like weavers, fishermen, farmers, dairy workers etc. The Scheme is managed by Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA) and financed through budgetary support by way of Grants-in- Aid to PFRDA. The Scheme operates through 62 Aggregators and 71 PoPs.
Announcement of Atal Pension Yojana
The coverage under this scheme was inadequate due to non-clarity of pension benefits at the age of 60 years. To address this concern, the Government announced a new initiative called Atal Pension Yojana (APY) in the Budget for 2015-16 and was formally launched by the Prime Minster on 9th May 2015
With the introduction of the APY, the enrolment under Swavalamban has been closed and the eligible subscribers under Swavalamban Scheme are being automatically migrated to the Atal Pension Yojana unless they opt out.