Total enrolments under Atal Pension Yojana (APY), a government-backed scheme guaranteeing a minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000-5,000 to the subscribers based on their contributions, crossed the 52 million mark on March 31.

The scheme enrolled more than 11.9 million new subscribers in FY23 as compared to 9.9 million in FY22, clocking more than 20% growth, the finance ministry said in a statement.

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As of date, the total assets under management (AUM) in APY is more than Rs 27,200 crore and the scheme has generated an investment return of 8.69% since inception on May 9, 2015.

Under APY, a subscriber would receive a lifelong minimum guaranteed pension of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per month from the age of 60 years, depending on their contributions.

The same pension would be paid to the spouse of the subscriber after the demise of the subscriber and on the demise of both the subscriber and spouse, the pension wealth as accumulated till age 60 of the subscriber would be returned back to the nominee.

Twelve states, namely Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Uttarakhand have achieved their annual enrolment targets with the help of their respective State Level Banker’s Committee (SLBCs).

In the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) category, 9 banks achieved the annual target while Bank of India, State Bank of India, and Indian Bank sourced more than 100 APY accounts per branch.

Under the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) category, 32 banks achieved the annual target while Jharkhand Rajya Gramin Bank, Vidharbha Konkan Gramin Bank, Tripura Gramin Bank and Baroda Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank sourced more than 160 APY accounts per branch. Also, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank and Airtel Payments Bank achieved the annual target allocated by the ministry of finance.

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The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) conducted 47 APY outreach programmes and Town Hall meetings pan India at various locations, in coordination with SLBCs and RRBs.

Many initiatives were taken, such as the launch of a digital onboarding facility using Aadhaar, the launch of revamped APY app,17 podcasts for creating awareness about the benefits of APY, and the launch of a Chatbot facility for seeking basic information on APY.