Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan (PM-SYM) Yojana, a landmark initiative led by Government of India (GoI) which aimed to provide financial security to millions of unorganized workers in India. It is a part of the GoI’s wider social security initiatives and aligns with the vision of universal pension coverage for workers in the unorganised sector.
- The scheme is specially designed for workers in the unorganised sectors who contribute 50% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
- The scheme is monitored by the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoL&E) in partnership with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and Common Services Centres e-Governance Services India Limited (CSC SPV) for smooth implementation.
About Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan (PM-SYM) Yojana:
i.PM-SYM was originally introduced in the Interim Budget 2019.
ii.It is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme, aimed to provide social security to unorganized workers.
iii.The scheme ensures a minimum pension of Rs 3,000 per month after the age of 60 for workers who are employed in the unorganised sector and have a monthly income of up to Rs 15,000.
iv.The GoI has designated LIC as Fund Manager of the scheme, which is mainly responsible for paying out pensions.
v.As on December 31 2024, more than 30.51 croreunorganised workers were registered on e-shram portal.
vi.As on March 3, 2025, top 5 states with maximum number of PM-SYM card issued: Haryana (8,26,208); Uttar Pradesh (UP) (6,94,169); Maharashtra (6,21,500); Gujarat (3,91,043); and Chhattisgarh (2,33,172).
Key Features of PM-SYM:
i.Government and Workers Contribution: As per the scheme, the GoI will match the contribution of workers on a 1:1 basis.
- However, the contribution amount(Rs 55 to Rs 200), differs based on the age at the time of enrolment for instance: if the age of worker at entry is 18 years, then, he/she is required to make monthly contribution of Rs 55 and GoI will also contribute exactly the same amount.
ii.Family Pension: The scheme has a provision of family pension, where, the beneficiary passes away after the age of 60, only the spouse is entitled to receive 50% of the pension amount as a family pension.
- In case, both subscriber as well as his/her spouse passes away, the entire corpus will be credited back to the fund.
iii.Easy enrolment: Eligible workers can register for the scheme at Common Services Centres (CSCs) or through the ‘Maandhan’ portal.
Eligibility Criteria:
i.Age Requirement: Minimum age required for workers to enroll in the scheme should be 18 years and not be more than 40 years.
ii.Unorganised sector employment: Workers engaged in professions such as: street vendors, rag pickers, rickshaw pullers, construction workers, daily wage labourers, agricultural workers, artisans, among others, are covered in the scheme.
iii.Exclusion Criteria: The scheme excludes the workers/ employees who are covered under the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), or National Pension Scheme (NPS).
- Also, the beneficiary should not be an income taxpayer and should not be receiving benefits from any other government pension scheme.
iv.Documents Required: The beneficiaries are required to submit their Aadhaar Card details, saving bank account or Jan Dhan account details with Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) and mobile number.
Exit and Withdrawal Criteria:
i.Exit Before 10 years: If a beneficiary exits the scheme before the completion of 10 years, the entire contributed amount is refunded with savings bank interest rate.
ii.Exit after 10 years but before 60 years: In this case, beneficiary receives his or her share of contribution along with accumulated interest, as earned by fund or at the savings bank interest rate, whichever is higher.
iii.Death before 60 years or permanent disability caused by an accident: In such case, it is voluntary for the spouse of beneficiary either to continue the scheme or;
- Withdraw the contributed amount with interest as actually earned by fund or at the savings bank interest rate, whichever is higher.
Note: If a subscriber has not paid the contribution continuously, he/she will be allowed to regularize his contribution by paying entire outstanding dues, along with penalty charges.
Implementation and Current Status:
The GoI has initiated various steps to ensure that the benefits of the scheme reach the unorganised sector workers:
i.Conducting periodic review meetings with states or Union Territories (UTs).
ii.Introduced new features such as: voluntary exit, revival module, claim status and account statement.
iii.The GoI has extended the revival of dormant accounts from 1 year to 3 years.
- It has also launched Donate-a-Pension Module which aims to encourage the employer to pay the premium of their staff under PM-SYM pension scheme, which will help in increasing the enrolment.
iv.Various public departments/organisations like: Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance (MoF); Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) are working closely with each other, to increase the outreach of the pension scheme.
Recent Related News:
In January 2025, Union Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, MoL&E chaired the two-day National level conference with labour ministers and secretaries of State/Union Territories (UTs) held in New Delhi, Delhi.
- During the meeting, he launched two significant initiatives namely, State and UT Microsites and the Occupational Shortage Index (OSI) under the e-shram initiative
