Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan

Last Updated on March 20, 2019 by Bharat Saini

Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM), a voluntary and contributory pension scheme that will engage as many as 42 crore workers in unorganised sector, announced in Interim Budget, has been rolled out by Ministry of Labour and Employment on Friday 15 February 2019 to be implemented from 15 February itself.

Unorganised Workers are those who are mostly engaged as home based workers, street vendors, mid-day meal workers, head loaders, brick kiln workers, cobblers, rag pickers, domestic workers, washer men, rickshaw pullers, landless labourers, own account workers, agricultural workers, construction workers, beedi workers, handloom workers, leather workers, audio- visual workers and similar other occupations.

Eligibility:

• Unorganised Workers whose monthly income is ₹15000 per month or less and
• Belong to the entry age group of 18-40 years are eligible for the scheme.
• They should not be covered under:
  • New Pension Scheme (NPS),
  • Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) scheme or
  • Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
• He/she should not be an income tax payer.

Minimum Assured Pension: Each subscriber under PM-SYM shall receive minimum assured pension of ₹3000 per month after attaining the age of 60 years.

Family Pension: During receipt of pension, if subscriber dies, spouse of beneficiary shall be entitled to receive 50% of the pension received by the beneficiary as family pension. Family pension is applicable only to spouse.

Contribution by the Subscriber:  Subscriber’s contributions to PM-SYM shall be made through ‘auto-debit’ facility from his/ her savings bank account/ Jan- Dhan account. The subscriber is required to contribute prescribed contribution amount from the age of joining PM-SYM till the age of 60 years.

Monthly Contribution: Prescribed age-specific contribution shall be made by the beneficiary. It will be ₹55 the entry age of 18 years and will gradually increase as per the prescribed chart. It will be ₹58 at the age of 19, ₹100 at the age of 29, ₹150 at the age of 35 and so on and maximum ₹200 at the age of 40.

Matching contribution by the Central Government:  PM-SYM is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme on a 50:50 basis where the matching contribution by the Central Government as per the chart.

For example, if a person enters the scheme at an age of 29 years, he is required to contribute ₹100 per month till the age of 60 years. An equal amount of ₹100 will be contributed by the Central Government.

Enrolment Process under PM-SYM: Eligible subscriber may visit the nearest Community Service Centres (CSCs) and get enrolled for PM-SYM using Aadhaar number and Savings Bank / Jan-Dhan account number on self-certification basis.

Contribution amount for the first month shall be paid in cash for which they will be provided with a receipt.

Later, facility will be provided where the subscriber can also visit the PM-SYM web portal or can download the mobile app and self-register using Aadhar number/ savings bank account/ Jan-Dhan account number on self-certification basis.

Facilitation Centres: All the branch offices of LIC, offices of ESIC/EPFO and all Labour offices of Central and State Governments will facilitate the unorganised workers about the Scheme, its benefits and procedure to be followed, set up a “Facilitation Desk” at their respective centres.

Fund Management:  PM-SYM will be a Central Sector Scheme  implemented through Life Insurance Corporation of India and CSCs. LIC will be the Pension Fund Manager and responsible for Pension pay out.  The amount collected under PM-SYM pension scheme shall be invested as per the investment pattern specified by Government of India.

Exit and Withdrawal: Considering the hardships and erratic nature of employability of these workers, the exit provisions of scheme have been kept flexible. Exit provisions are as under: 

• In case subscriber exits the scheme within a period of less than 10 years, the beneficiary’s share of contribution only will be returned to him with savings bank interest rate.
• If subscriber exits after a period of 10 years or more but before superannuation age i.e. 60 years of age, the beneficiary’s share of contribution along with accumulated interest as actually earned by fund or at the savings bank interest rate whichever is higher.
• If a beneficiary has given regular contributions and died due to any cause, his/ her spouse will be entitled to continue the scheme subsequently by payment of regular contribution or exit by receiving the beneficiary’s contribution along with accumulated interest as actually earned by fund or at the savings bank interest rate whichever is higher.
• If a beneficiary has given regular contributions and become permanently disabled due to any cause before the superannuation age, i.e. 60 years, and unable to continue to contribute under the scheme, his/ her spouse will be entitled to continue the scheme subsequently by payment of regular contribution or exit the scheme by receiving the beneficiary’s contribution with interest as actually earned by fund or at the savings bank interest rate whichever is higher.
• After the death of subscriber as well as his/her spouse, the entire corpus will be credited back to the fund.

Default of Contributions: If a subscriber has not paid the contribution continuously he/she will be allowed to regularize his contribution by paying entire outstanding dues, along with penalty charges, if any, decided by the Government.