Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana

Objective:

• The scheme is designed to provide protection and social security for Unorganised Workers (UW) in their old age.
• Under this scheme, the pension is given to the beneficiaries by collecting contributions and voluntary donations from the applicants.
• An amount of Rs. 3000 is given to the beneficiary, i.e., unorganised worker after attaining 60 years to aid their financial requirements.
• This PMSYM scheme is a tribute to the Unorganised Workers as they contribute nearly 50% Gross Domestic Product (GDP)  of the Nation.

Eligibility:

• The applicant should be a worker in an unorganised sector.
• The applicant’s age should be between 18 and 40 years.
• The applicant’s income should not exceed Rs.15000 per month.
• The workers who can apply for this scheme should be domestic workers, washerman, street vendors, brick kiln workers, cobblers, rag pickers, mid-day meal workers, head loaders, landless labourers, leather workers, rickshaw pullers, construction workers, handloom workers, audio-visual workers, street vendors, own-account workers, home-based workers, agricultural workers and workers engaged in other similar occupations.

The applicant should not:

• Employed in Organised Sector or a member of NPS/ESIC/EPF.
• The one who pay income tax.

Scheme Highlights:

• In Gujarat, the PMSYM scheme was launched by honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5^th February 2019.
• This scheme is a government scheme maintained by the Ministry of Labour and Employment of the Government of India.
• For any further updates or information about the scheme, one can follow the instructions on the website:
• https://maandhan.in/.
• An Aadhar card and a Saving Bank Account or Jan Dhan account number with an IFSC code is mandatory to apply for this scheme.
• A whopping number of 42 crore Unorganised workers are covered under this scheme.
• The amount contributed by the applicant ranged from Rs.55 to Rs. 200 depending on the applicant’s age, and this amount has to be contributed until the applicant attains 60 years.

Features of PMSYM scheme:

• On the maturity of the PMSYM scheme, an assured amount of Rs.3000 is credited in the account of the applicant as pension in their old age
• This scheme is also called as Voluntary and Contributory Pension Scheme as the funds for this scheme is collected by voluntary contributions from the applicants.
• The amount of pension credited to the applicant’s account will match the contribution made by the applicant earlier.
• Under this scheme, there is an “auto-debit” facility where a minimum amount will be debited from the applicant’s account every month until he attains 60 years.
• Once the applicant claims their pension amount when they attain 60 years, a fixed pension gets deposited every month in the pension account of the applicant.

Benefits under PMSYM scheme:

Family benefits on beneficiary death

At any unfortunate circumstances, if an eligible beneficiary expires at the age of receiving the pension, their spouse will receive 50% of the pension given to the eligible beneficiary for the rest of their lives. Here family pension applies only to the spouse of the eligible beneficiary and no other family member.

Benefits on beneficiary disability:

Suppose an eligible beneficiary became disabled permanently but regularly contributed under this scheme. Still, due to his disability, he can not continue to contribute. In such cases, their spouse is entitled to contribute on behalf of the eligible beneficiary till the beneficiary attains 60 years. 

In another case, if they want to exit the scheme on the sudden disability of the eligible beneficiary person, they get the contribution amount deposited by the applicant till then with interest levied by the Pension Fund or the interest levied by the Savings Bank Account, whichever is higher.

Benefits of leaving the PMSYM scheme:

• Suppose an eligible beneficiary leaves the scheme without even completing ten years from the joining date of the scheme. In that case, they only receive the contributed amount along with the interest rate levied by the Savings Bank Account.
• If an eligible beneficiary leaves the scheme after ten years or more than ten years, but before attaining 60 years, they would receive the contributed amount along with the accumulated interest levied by the Pension fund or the interest rate provided by the Savings Bank Account, whichever is higher.
• Suppose an eligible beneficiary contributes regularly but dies suddenly. In that case, the spouse can continue with the contribution or leave the scheme by receiving the contributed amount along the accumulated interest levied by the Pension fund or the interest provided by the Savings Bank Account, whichever is higher.
• If, in any case, both the eligible beneficiary and their spouse dies, then the beneficiary and spouse shall send their corpus back to the Pension Fund.

Steps to follow to apply for this scheme:

Step 1: The Interested eligible beneficiary should visit their nearest Common Service Centre (CSC).

Step 2: Pre-requisites that are required shall be carried with them for the enrolment process: 

• Aadhar card
• Details of Savings/ Jan Dhan Bank Account with the IFSC code (Bank passbook or cheque leave/book or a copy of bank statement as proof of bank account).
• A minimum amount of cash is required for the Initial contribution to Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE).

Step 3: For authentication purposes, VLE will enter the beneficiary’s Name, Date of birth and Aadhar number as printed on the Aadhar card of the beneficiary, which the UIDAI database will later verify.

Step 4:  The VLE will fill in the mobile number, email address, Bank account details, Nominee and Spouse (if any) details to complete the online registration.

Step 5: Self-certification will be done for the eligibility conditions of the beneficiary.

Step 6: The system will calculate the minimum payment amount per month as per the beneficiary’s age.

Step 7: of cash will pay the first subscription amount in cash to the VLE, to which a receipt will be generated and given to the subscriber of the scheme.

Step 8: Auto Debit mandate and Enrolment form will be printed and signed by the beneficiary, later on, scanned by the VLE and uploaded into the system.

Step 9: Along with this, a unique Shram Yogi Pension Account Number (SPAN) will be generated and printed on the Shram Yogi Card. 

Once this process is completed, the beneficiary will receive a Shram Yogi Card and a signed copy of the enrolment form for future references. A regular SMS will be sent to the beneficiary once auto-debit and Shram Yogi Pension details are activated.