Women lead in financial inclusion with rise in pension scheme subscriptions
The Atal Pension Yojana was launched in May 2015 to create a universal social security system for all Indians, especially the poor, the under-privileged and the workers in the unorganised sector.
After opening savings accounts in a big way under the Pradhan Mantri Jan – Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), women are making strides to secure their old-age income security by subscribing to the Atal Pension Yojana (APY).
The number of female subscribers to the APY is gradually matching the scale of the accounts opened by them under the PMJDY, highlighting “femme power” in financial inclusion, going by finance ministry data.
Female subscribers to the APY accounted for 48 per cent of the total subscriber base of 8.34 crore as on October 31, 2025. In the case of PMJDY, women beneficiaries constituted about 56 per cent as on December 3, 2025.
An interesting aspect of APY in the last couple of years is that the number of female subscriber additions is higher than male subscribers. In FY24 and FY25, 52 per cent and 55 per cent, respectively, of the total new subscribers were female. The FY25 trend has continued into FY26 so far (up to October 31, 2025).
Atal Pension Yojana
APY was launched in May 2015 to create a universal social security system for all Indians, especially the poor, the under-privileged and the workers in the unorganised sector. It is open to those between 18-40 years of age having a savings account in a bank or post-office. From October 1, 2022, any citizen who is or has been an income-tax payer, is not eligible to join APY.
APY is a voluntary, periodic contribution-based pension system, under which a subscriber can receive a Central Government guaranteed minimum pension amount ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 per month, after the age of 60 years until death.
After the subscriber’s demise, the subscriber’s spouse is entitled to receive the same pension amount as that of the subscriber until the death of the spouse. After the demise of the subscriber and the spouse, the nominee will be entitled to receive the pension wealth, as accumulated till the age of 60 years of the subscriber.
Total corpus under APY stood at ₹43,275 crore as on October 31, 2025, per Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority data. Total deposits under PMJDY stood at ₹2,75,873 crore as on December 3, 2025, according to finance ministry data.
Banking expert V Viswanathan noted that APY focuses on the unorganised sector like the poor, those with no regular income, agriculturists, housewives, etc. It is also supported by Public Sector Banks/Regional Rural Banks in a major way along with PMJDY, PMJJBY (Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana / life insurance scheme) and PMSBY (Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana / personal accident insurance scheme).
He opined that since Public Sector Banks have a huge network in semi-urban and rural areas, the number of subscribers added under APY is impressive, though value wise NPS (National Pension System) outpaces APY by a huge margin.
Published on December 14, 2025
