The Atal Pension Yojana (APY), a flagship social security scheme of the Government of India, has crossed a major milestone with total gross enrolments surpassing 9 crore subscribers as of 21 April, according to a statement by the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday, 22 April.
The scheme also recorded its highest-ever annual addition, with more than 1.35 crore subscribers enrolled during the financial year 2025-26.
This marks the largest number of enrolments in a single year since the scheme’s launch in 2015.
Launched on 9 May 2015, APY is administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and is aimed at creating a universal social security system.
It is a voluntary, contributory pension scheme primarily targeted at workers in the unorganised sector, including economically weaker and underprivileged sections.
The growth in enrolments over the years has been supported by coordinated efforts from banks, including public sector banks, regional rural banks, private banks, small finance banks and cooperative banks, along with the Department of Posts and state-level banking committees.
Outreach initiatives, awareness campaigns and regular performance monitoring have also contributed to expanding the scheme’s reach across the country.
Under APY, subscribers receive a guaranteed monthly pension ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 after attaining the age of 60 years.
In the event of the subscriber’s death, the same pension is extended to the spouse.
After the demise of both the subscriber and spouse, the accumulated pension corpus is returned to the nominee.
The scheme is open to all Indian citizens between the ages of 18 and 40 years, except those who are or have been income tax payers.
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