New Delhi/Adalaj: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be at Adalaj and Vastral in Gujarat today (Tuesday, 5th March). 

At Adalaj, Gandhinagar he will visit the Annapurna Dham Trust. There he will lay the foundation stone of Shikshan Bhavan and Vidhyarthi  Bhavan. He will also address a gathering there.

At Vastral, Prime Minister will mark the launch of the pension scheme for unorganised-sector workers — the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan — through the online fund transfer to beneficiaries.

Modi will also distribute PM-SYM pension cards to select beneficiaries.

Also read: Modi govt's gift to informal workers: Subscription opens for Rs 3,000 monthly pension scheme

In the Budget for 2019-20, the Modi government introduced a mega pension scheme namely Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM) to ensure old age protection for unorganized Workers, whose monthly income is Rs 15,000 per month or less.

It is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme, where each subscriber under the PMSYM, shall receive a minimum assured pension of Rs 3,000 per month after attaining the age of 60 years.

A contribution matching the age-specific contribution of the beneficiary will be made by the Central Government.

It is expected that at least ten crore workers in the unorganized sector will avail the benefit of Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan within next five years.

About half of India’s GDP comes from over forty crore workers in the unorganised sector, mostly working as street vendors, rickshaw pullers, construction workers, rag pickers, agricultural workers, beedi workers, handloom, leather and numerous other similar occupations.

The PM-SYM along with the health coverage provided under ‘Ayushman Bharat’ and life and disability coverage provided under ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’ and ‘Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, will ensure comprehensive social security coverage for the workers in the unorganized sector at their old age.

Earlier, the DBT to farmers had been launched on February 24. With one welfare scheme after another, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pre-empting the model code of conduct that will come into force the day the election commission announces the dates of Lok Sabha polls. The 'poor' constitute the most populous section of India's electorate.

Benefits to unorganised-sector workers

As reported on February 17, CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) under the Ministry of Electronics and IT, has begun the registration process for the PMSYM scheme. Here's what the daily-wage workers get.

1.

The scheme covers unorganised sector workers of age between 18 and 40 years, making them eligible for a minimum monthly pension of Rs 3,000 after the age of 60 under the scheme.

2.

The SPV has a network of over 3.13 lakh CSCs across India. Of these 3.13 lakh CSCs, over 2.13 lakh are operating at the gram panchayat level. With such a reach, the CSC partnership ensures that the scheme covers all needy people, particularly those living in rural and semi-urban areas.

3.

At a later stage, the ministry is also looking at enrolling people through PMSYM's web portal or can download the mobile app and self-register using Aadhaar number/savings bank account/ Jan Dhan account number on self-certification basis.

Exception

However, the informal workers will not be eligible for the scheme if they are covered under the National Pension Scheme, the Employees' State Insurance Corporation Scheme or the Employees' Provident Fund Scheme.