Women are leading the way in financial inclusion, with an increase in subscriptions to pension schemes

The Atal Pension Yojana was launched in May 2015 to create a universal social security scheme for all Indians, especially the poor, the underprivileged and the workers in the unorganized sector.

The number of female subscribers of the APY is gradually matching the size of accounts they opened under the PMJDY, highlighting “women power” in financial inclusion, data from the Ministry of Finance shows.

Women subscribers of the APY accounted for 48 percent of the total subscriber base of 8.34 crore as of October 31, 2025. In the case of PMJDY, women beneficiaries constituted about 56 percent as of December 3, 2025.

An interesting aspect of APY in recent years is that the number of female subscribers has exceeded the number of male subscribers. In FY24 and FY25, 52 percent and 55 percent of the total new subscribers, respectively, were women. The trend for FY25 has continued into FY26 so far (until October 31, 2025).

Atal Pension Yojana

APY was launched in May 2015 to create a universal social security scheme for all Indians, especially the poor, the underprivileged and the workers in the unorganized sector. It is open to people between the ages of 18 and 40 who have a savings account at a bank or post office. As of October 1, 2022, any citizen who is or has been an income taxpayer will no longer be eligible for membership in APY.

APY is a voluntary periodic contribution-based pension scheme, under which a subscriber can receive a guaranteed minimum pension amount from the central government, ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 per month, from the age of 60 years until death.

After the death of the subscriber, the subscriber’s wife is entitled to the same pension amount as that of the subscriber until the death of the spouse. After the death of the subscriber and the spouse, the nominee is entitled to the pension assets, as accrued up to the age of 60 years of the subscriber.

The total corpus under APY stood at ₹43,275 crore as on October 31, 2025, according to data from the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. According to Finance Ministry data, total deposits under PMJDY stood at ₹2,75,873 crore as on December 3, 2025.

Banking expert V Viswanathan noted that APY focuses on the unorganized sector such as the poor, people without fixed income, farmers, housewives, etc. It is also significantly supported by public sector banks/regional rural banks, along with PMJDY, PMJJBY (Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana / life insurance scheme) and PMSBY (Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana / personal accident insurance). schedule).

He opined that since public sector banks have a huge network in semi-urban and rural areas, the number of subscribers being added under APY is impressive, though NPS (National Pension System) in terms of value exceeds APY by a huge margin.

Published on December 14, 2025