The All India Senior Citizens’ Confederation has urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to grant more time to the golden-agers to deposit money in the assured pension scheme, Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), being operated by the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

This request comes as many senior citizens have been unable to deposit money in the Yojana due to restrictions on public movement on account of the 21-day nation-wide lockdown, imposed from March 25 to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Yojana, which seeks to protect elderly persons aged 60 years and above against future fall in their interest income due to the uncertain market conditions, as also to provide social security during old age, was open from May 4, 2017 to March 31, 2020. This scheme was announced in the Budget for 2017-18.

Assured pension

TPR Unny, Secretary General of the Confederation, in a letter, has requested the Finance Minister on behalf of the senior citizens, who could not make deposits before March 31, 2020, to extend the closing date of PMVVY so that they can make deposits during the extended dates.

LIC is operating the Yojana, which has a lock-in period of 10 years and provides assured pension on a periodical basis to the depositors. The scheme could be purchased by payment of a lumpsum purchase price. The pensioner has an option to choose either the amount of pension or the purchase price.

As per the scheme, on payment of an initial lumpsum amount ranging from a minimum purchase price of ₹1.50 lakh for a minimum pension of ₹1,000 per month to a maximum purchase price of ₹15 lakh for maximum pension of ₹10,000 per month, subscribers get an assured pension based on a guaranteed rate of return of 8 per cent per annum, payable monthly.

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