Pension scheme for unorganised worker sees just 35 enrolments in October

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The Pradhan Mantri Yogi Mandhan Yojana, the pension system for unorganised workers, managed only 35 enrolments in October, the Economic Times has reported. The number was a mere 85 in September.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Yogi Mandhan Yojana initiative, workers in the unorganised sector will receive a yearly pension of Rs 36,000 by just contributing Rs 2 every day. Workers in the unorganised sector include street vendors, rickshaw drivers, construction workers, and labourers, among others who perform comparable tasks.

If a worker enrols in this scheme, he would be required to make a monthly deposit of Rs 55. This means that if a person starts saving Rs 2 per day at the age of 18, he or she will be entitled for a pension of Rs 36,000 per year. Similarly, if a person enters this scheme at the age of 40, he or she will have to contribute Rs 200 monthly to receive this advantage.

Starting at the age of 60, you will receive Rs 3,000 per month as pension.

PM-SYM scheme

In the first half of the year, the average number of monthly subscriptions under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM) was 2,366, which is a considerable decrease from 10,768 in 2020-21 and 1,31,350 the previous year.

While the government attributed the drop on the holiday season, when people’s attention changes from saving to spending, the report quoted experts as saying that the scheme is no more appealing due to delayed returns.

Since the scheme’s inception three years ago, 4.51 million informal employees have been enrolled in total. However, this is insignificant when compared to India’s estimated 380 million informal workers.

In September and October, the number of enrolments in the PM-SYM dropped dramatically. This could be due to increased spending during the holiday season rather than saving for the future “enrolments could climb following the holiday season, the report quoted a top government official as saying.

The report quoted experts as saying that the scheme’s appeal has waned as a result of the lengthy time it takes to receive rewards. “Unorganized workers are not sufficiently motivated to participate in a long-term investment scheme. The problem has been exacerbated by a drop in income and anxiety about the future,” KR Shyam Sundar, a labour economist was quoted as saying.