Lucknow, Apr 25 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh now has the most enrolments under the central income security scheme for people working in the unorganised sector, with over 1.20 crore people registered under it, the state government said Friday.

The top five districts in UP in terms of new enrolments under the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) are Prayagraj, Lucknow, Bareilly, Fatehpur, and Kanpur Nagar, a statement by the government said.

The APY, a central scheme launched in 2015 by the Government of India, aims to provide a monthly pension ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 to citizens aged between 18 and 40 years working in the unorganised sector.

The pension becomes payable after the beneficiary turns 60. Contributions are made via auto-debit from savings accounts, with flexible payment intervals (monthly, quarterly, or half-yearly).

In the event of the subscriber’s death, the pension is transferred to the spouse, and the accumulated corpus is given to the nominee after the demise of both.

The government said the campaign to promote APY across both rural and urban areas has resulted in “record-breaking participation,” particularly among workers in the unorganised sector.

“Uttar Pradesh surpassed its enrolment target for the last financial year by a significant margin. Against a target of 15.83 lakh enrolments, the state recorded 21.49 lakh new subscribers, the highest in the country during the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)’s special campaign,” it said.

“For this performance, the Uttar Pradesh State-Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) was awarded the ‘Award of Ultimate Leadership’ for excellence in APY implementation. A total of 60 stakeholders, including 8 major banks, are involved in facilitating the scheme across the state,” it added.

The State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and the Indian Bank recorded the highest number of APY enrolments. PTI KIS SKY SKY