Lok Sabha Question No. 2949 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-28
Subject: Pension Schemes
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: SHER SINGH GHUBAYA, RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY, NARANBHAI KACHHADIA, CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI, SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI, RAMDAS CHANDRABHANJI TADAS, BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE

## DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

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## LOK SABHA UN STARRED QUESTION NO. 2949 TO BE ANSWERED ON DECEMBER 28, 2018/PAUSHA 7, 1940 (SAKA) PENSION SCHEMES

2949. Shri Sher Singh Ghubaya,

Dr. Ravindra Kumar Ray,

Shri Naranbhai Kachhadiya,

Shri Chandra Prakash Joshi,

Shri Sumedhanand Sarswati,

Shri Ramdas C. Tadas,

Shri Bidyut Baran Mahato

## Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) The types and details of pension schemes being implemented by the Government at present;
- (b) Whether any new pension scheme has been introduced by the Government during the last four years and if so, the details and the salient features thereof;
- (c) Whether the National Pension System (NPS) has been simplified and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) The percentage of persons covered/ subscribed under pension scheme at present in the country, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER

The Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance (Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla)

(a)  and  (b)  The  Department  of  Financial  Services,  Ministry  of  Finance  is  implementing  two  pension schemes, namely the National Pension System (NPS) and the Atal Pension Yojana (APY).

The  Government  of  India  vide  notification  dated  22.12.2003  had  introduced  the  National  Pension System (NPS) (earlier known as New Pension Scheme) for its employees and made it mandatory for all new  recruits  of  the  Central  Government  (excluding  armed  forces)  who  joined  service  on  or  after 01.01.2004. Further, State Governments are empowered under Section 12(4) of the PFRDA Act, 2013, to notify NPS for their employees. NPS being a contributory pension scheme, in the Tier-I account, a monthly contribution @ 10 percent of basic salary plus dearness allowance is required to be paid by the employee and a matching contribution by the Government. The Tier II account is a voluntary account on the part of the employee which is linked to the active Tier I account.

The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) was launched in May, 2015. Indian Citizens between the age group of 18 to 40 years are eligible to join APY through their savings bank account or post office savings bank account.  Depending  upon  the  pension  plan  selected,  each  subscriber  under  APY  shall  receive  a guaranteed minimum pension of Rs. 1000 per month or Rs. 2000 per month or Rs. 3000 per month or Rs. 4000 per month or Rs. 5000 per month, after the age of 60 years until his/her death.

The  Employees'  Provident  Fund  Organisation  (EPFO)  has  informed  that  EPFO  is  implementing Employees'  Pension  Scheme,  1995  (EPS,  1995).  Further,  it  is  also  informed  that  EPFO  has  not introduced any new pension scheme during the last four years.

The  Department  of  Pensions  and  Pensioners'  Welfare  has  informed  that  it  administers  the  pension scheme for the Central civil  Government  servants retiring  in  accordance  with the provisions of CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972. After completing a qualifying service of not less than 10 years, an employee is entitled  to  a  pension  @50%  of  his  last  pay  or  50%  of  average  emoluments  for  the  last  10  months, whichever is more beneficial to him/her.

(c)  The  Pension  Fund  Regulatory  and  Development  Authority  (PFRDA),  administering  NPS,  has simplified  exit  and  withdrawal  norms  under  NPS,  vide  PFRDA  (Exit  and  withdrawals  under  NPS) Regulations,  2015.  Keeping  in  view  the  possibility  of  sudden  financial  needs  of  the  subscribers,  the requirement of minimum period under National Pension System (NPS) for availing the facility of partial withdrawal from the mandatory Tier-I account of the subscriber has been reduced from 10 years to 3 years  from  the  date  of  joining  w.e.f.  10 th August,  2017. The  minimum  gap  of  5  years  between  two partial withdrawals has also been removed w.e.f. 10 th August, 2017. A subscriber is eligible for three partial withdrawals during the period of subscription under NPS, each withdrawal not exceeding twentyfive  percent  of  the  contributions  made  by  the  subscriber  and  excluding  contributions  made  by the employer. There is, however, no restriction on withdrawals from the Tier-II account of the subscriber.

(d)  The  number  of  subscribers  covered  under  NPS,  State/UT  wise,  as  on  30.11.2018  is  provided  at Annexure  I .  The  number  of  subscribers  covered  under  APY,  State/UT  wise,  as  on  22.12.2018  is provided  at Annexure  II .  The  number  of  employees  subscribing  to  EPS,  1995,  as  on  01.03.2018, State/UT wise, is provided at Annexure III .

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The number of subscribers covered under NPS, State/UT wise, as on 30.11.2018

| S.No   | Name of State            |   Total Number of Subscribers |
|--------|--------------------------|-------------------------------|
| 1      | Andaman &Nicobar Islands |                         12644 |
| 2      | Andhra Pradesh           |                        829337 |
| 3      | Arunachal Pradesh        |                         27379 |
| 4      | Assam                    |                        428986 |
| 5      | Bihar                    |                        537274 |
| 6      | Chandigarh               |                         31644 |
| 7      | Chhattisgarh             |                        532023 |
| 8      | Dadra and Nagar Haveli   |                          1995 |
| 9      | Daman &Diu               |                          1656 |
| 10     | Defence*                 |                         22136 |
| 11     | Delhi                    |                        311774 |
| 12     | Goa                      |                         47629 |
| 13     | Gujarat                  |                        569689 |
| 14     | Haryana                  |                        337498 |
| 15     | Himachal Pradesh         |                        124498 |
| 16     | Jammu &Kashmir           |                        195702 |
| 17     | Jharkhand                |                        298344 |
| 18     | Karnataka                |                       1179258 |
| 19     | Kerala                   |                        544611 |
| 20     | Lakhswadeep              |                          2074 |
| 21     | Madhya Pradesh           |                        769664 |
| 22     | Maharashtra              |                       1065386 |
| 23     | Manipur                  |                         56411 |
| 24     | Meghalaya                |                         22623 |
| 25     | Mizoram                  |                         10589 |
| 26     | Nagaland                 |                         35871 |
| 27     | NRI**                    |                          3340 |
| 28     | Orissa                   |                        353951 |
| 29     | Pondicherry              |                         20439 |
| 30     | Punjab                   |                        271728 |
| 31     | Rajasthan                |                        712793 |
| 32     | Sikkim                   |                         18482 |
| 33     | Tamil Nadu               |                        561747 |
| 34     | Telangana                |                         92482 |
| 35     | Tripura                  |                         47320 |
| 36     | Uttar Pradesh            |                       1175011 |
| 37     | Uttaranchal              |                        144506 |
| 38     | West Bengal              |                        504379 |
|        | Total                    |                      11902873 |

Defence* - Subscribers of Govt Sector are mainly from Paramilitary forces who have given address like 88, APO. 56, APO etc

The number of subscribers covered under APY, State/UT wise, as on 22.12.2018

| S.No   | Name of State            | Count of PRANs   |
|--------|--------------------------|------------------|
| 1      | Andaman &Nicobar Islands | 4,478            |
| 2      | Andhra Pradesh           | 8,85,412         |
| 3      | Arunachal Pradesh        | 9,311            |
| 4      | Assam                    | 2,53,914         |
| 5      | Bihar                    | 13,35,211        |
| 6      | Chandigarh               | 19,774           |
| 7      | Chhattisgarh             | 2,18,078         |
| 8      | Dadra and Nagar Haveli   | 15,880           |
| 9      | Daman &Diu               | 27,586           |
| 10     | Delhi                    | 2,37,564         |
| 11     | Goa                      | 45,452           |
| 12     | Gujarat                  | 6,44,648         |
| 13     | Haryana                  | 2,84,405         |
| 14     | Himachal Pradesh         | 90,577           |
| 15     | Jammu &Kashmir           | 50,529           |
| 16     | Jharkhand                | 2,92,976         |
| 17     | Karnataka                | 9,55,083         |
| 18     | Kerala                   | 3,03,402         |
| 19     | Lakhswadeep              | 4,512            |
| 20     | Madhya Pradesh           | 6,73,887         |
| 21     | Maharashtra              | 10,55,596        |
| 22     | Manipur                  | 16,245           |
| 23     | Meghalaya                | 26,060           |
| 24     | Mizoram                  | 17,564           |
| 25     | Nagaland                 | 50,350           |
| 26     | Orissa                   | 4,45,788         |
| 27     | Pondicherry              | 30,238           |
| 28     | Punjab                   | 4,16,245         |
| 29     | Rajasthan                | 6,31,685         |
| 30     | Sikkim                   | 50,450           |
| 31     | Tamil Nadu               | 11,44,028        |
| 32     | Telangana                | 3,82,464         |
| 33     | Tripura                  | 40,330           |
| 34     | Uttar Pradesh            | 19,84,083        |
| 35     | Uttaranchal              | 1,15,654         |
| 36     | West Bengal              | 8,41,045         |
|        | Total                    | 136,00,504       |

The number of subscribers covered under EPS, 1995, State/UT wise, as on 01.03.2018

| S.No.   | Name of State               | The number of employees enrolled   |
|---------|-----------------------------|------------------------------------|
| 1       | Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 9928                               |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh              | 955073                             |
| 3       | Assam                       | 271709                             |
| 4       | Bihar                       | 324582                             |
| 5       | Chandigarh                  | 362662                             |
| 6       | Chhattisgarh                | 368575                             |
| 7       | Delhi                       | 2403857                            |
| 8       | Goa                         | 169712                             |
| 9       | Gujarat                     | 2729742                            |
| 10      | Haryana                     | 2061353                            |
| 11      | Himachal Pradesh            | 281111                             |
| 12      | Jharkhand                   | 411698                             |
| 13      | Karnataka                   | 4718860                            |
| 14      | Kerala                      | 968118                             |
| 15      | Madhya Pradesh              | 932616                             |
| 16      | Maharashtra                 | 8074067                            |
| 17      | Orissa                      | 651682                             |
| 18      | Punjab                      | 615150                             |
| 19      | Rajasthan                   | 94430                              |
| 20      | Tamil Nadu                  | 4571867                            |
| 21      | Telangana                   | 2418466                            |
| 22      | Tripura                     | 29833                              |
| 23      | Uttar Pradesh               | 1785647                            |
| 24      | Uttarakhand                 | 481445                             |
| 25      | West Bengal                 | 2434253                            |
|         | Total                       | 3,89,76,313                        |