Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) has bagged the national award for significant enrolment under Atal Pension Yojana (APY) from the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), New Delhi.

Shreekant M Bhandiwad, Chairman of KVGB, received the award from Vivek Joshi, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Government of India, and Deepak Mohanty, Chairman of PFRDA, in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Bhandiwad took charge as the Chairman in April 2023. Expressing happiness over receiving the award, Bhandiwad said APY is a safety net for workers in the informal sector for getting pre-defined pension after 60 years.

The bank has enrolled 3,42,852 (cumulative) accounts under APY. During 2022-23, the bank enrolled 76,569 accounts against the target of 50,320 and achieved the target well before the time frame.

Stating that PFRDA has given a target of an average 80 accounts per branch, he said the bank has achieved an average of 121 accounts per branch, and this achievement is the highest among all other banks in south India.

KVGB has 629 branches in the nine districts jurisdiction from Vijayapura to Mangaluru.

Bhandiwad said KVGB is playing a pivotal role in implementing all three social security schemes (PMJJBY, PMSBY, and APY) launched by the Central government, and the bank’s priority to ensure access to social security benefits to villagers and people from unorganised sectors continues along with other main banking activities.

comment COMMENT NOW