Page 50 - The Insurance Times October 2024

the type of annuity option selected by the annuitant. The scheme provided government contribution of Rs1000/
There are several type of annuity options available for the unorganized sector under the swalamban yojna but
under these plans viz. annuity for life, joint life annuity, did not gain popularity,so the subsribers have been merged
last survivor annuity, annuity guaranteed for a specific with Atal pension yojna.
term and life thereafter.
The state and central government employees constitute
Limitations of existing pension schemes-Women almost half of the NPS subscriber base. As there is no specific
Old Age Security Needs remain unaddressed provision to encourage women for voluntary contribution,
the scheme attracts only the male earning members.
As most of the above mentioned pension schemes are
either discretionary or voluntary in nature, many of the
None of the above scheme relates to pension for women
middle class women are not aware of such schemes or
except the National widows pension scheme, nor any specific
could not comprehend the benefits which will come in
future by paying small contributions in present. They provision has been made in our country to encourage
women for old age savings and pension.
thus do not enroll to avail the benefits of any social
security scheme nor do they have any savings or make
investment for their old age. The way forward
Women comprising more than 50% of the elderly population
Central and state government pension schemes cover
could not be ignored. As per the IRDAI report 2022-2023
only a small fraction of the total population and
the total number of policies issued to women is only 34.20%
Employees Family Pension scheme is available only to
of the total policies issued by life Insurers. There is a grave
those covered by Employees provident fund and need to look at the demographic trends in its holistic sense
miscellaneous provision Act,1952.
and take measures of creating awareness and educating
National assistance scheme providing pension for BPL Indian women to be financially independent. Indian women
widows aged 40-79 years with an amount of Rs.300 per need to reorient and reinvent their saving patterns. Old age
month, Rs.500 for those 80 years and above is grossly financial dependency and health problems need to be
insufficient to meet even the minimum subsistence addressed by providing the women customers with the
requirement. appropriate pension benefit or pension schemes wherein
these women could contribute while young.
Atal pension scheme - Maximum amount of pension
provided to the unorganised sector under Atal Pension
Insurance companies, Regulator viz. PFRDA , IRDA, and
Yojna is 5000/ and that too after a minimum deferment
period of 20 years. The amount will be grossly Government need to work together to bring about this
change for older women and ensure them a dignified,
inadequate with respect to the inflationary trends. This
meager amount after a period of 20 years will not healthy and self-sufficient old age.
suffice to meet even the basic needs .
Sincere and prompt efforts are required to take care of
National Pension Scheme - The National pension older women who lead a marginalized, neglected and
scheme open to every citizen has not gain popularity. miserable life. For ensuring the well-being of these
The total number of subscribers as on 31st May,2024 demographic future challenges, strategies have to be made
are 1,82,63,659 with a total asset under management in advance. With the decreased women workforce and high
of Rs.11,76,862 crores . The majority of subscribers old age dependency ratio of females, there is a grave
(92,93,341) are from State and Central Government necessity that they save for their grey years.
comprising 50.88% of the total subscribers. There are
only 36,18,698 subscribers under the all citizen model Some of the measures to improve the current schemes and
comprising 19.79% of the total subscribers. make them women-oriented could help in bringing the
desired financial security :
As the scheme does not guarantee minimum pension it is Pension and Annuity business constitutes only 23%
less acceptable by the public.A layman cannot understand of the total life insurance business, as per IRDAI annual
the technical aspects of investment under various assets of report 2022-2023. Life insurers need to focus more on
the scheme, so are less interested in investing in the same. pension business by providing appropriate options of

The Insurance Times October 2024 45