The Department of Rural Development and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority have entered into an agreement to increase retirement savings coverage among rural households. Under this partnership, trained community workers known as Pension Sakhis will work to enrol and support villagers seeking pension products, particularly those in self-help groups and other underserved rural areas.
How the scheme will work
The two departments will use existing community networks from the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission to identify and train Pension Sakhis. These workers will include Banking Correspondent Sakhis and other community resource persons already active in villages.
The Pension Sakhis will carry out several tasks:
- Visit villages and remote areas to explain pension products and their benefits
- Help eligible people enrol in pension schemes
- Provide ongoing support to pension account holders
The partnership will use digital tools to track progress. Mobile apps, web portals, and unique identifier systems will monitor how many people are being reached, how many are joining, and how well the Pension Sakhis are performing their work.
Self-help group members, rural women, Lakhpati Didis (women entrepreneurs who have achieved annual income of one lakh rupees), and other groups with limited access to pension schemes are the main targets of this initiative.
What this means for you
If you live in a rural area and are part of a self-help group or other underserved community, a trained Pension Sakhi may soon visit your village to explain pension options and help you open an account. This scheme aims to make retirement planning more accessible to those who have historically had little exposure to formal pension products like the National Pension System. The focus is on building trust and financial literacy in villages through people the community already knows and trusts.