PFRDA hosted the Atal Pension Yojana Annual Felicitation Programme in New Delhi, recognising outstanding performers among banks, business correspondents, and aggregators in APY enrollment and outreach. APY, launched in May 2015, targets unorganised sector workers aged 18–40, guaranteeing a monthly pension of ₹1,000–₹5,000 post-60. Subscribers crossed 7 crore as of recent data. The event underscores PFRDA's push for expanding social security coverage among India's informal workforce through incentive-based mobilisation.

Atal Pension Yojana sits at the intersection of social security, financial inclusion, and India's informal labour challenge — making it a frequent UPSC GS3 lens topic. Nearly 93% of India's workforce is in the informal sector, with virtually no pension safety net. APY addresses this structural gap by offering a defined-benefit, government-backed pension — a rarity in India's largely defined-contribution pension architecture under NPS.

The Annual Felicitation Programme is more than a ceremonial event. It reflects a behavioural nudge strategy: recognising banks, business correspondents, and APY-Sevas creates competitive outreach incentives. This mirrors how PMJDY used banking correspondents to crack last-mile delivery. The scheme is co-administered by PFRDA and run through bank accounts — meaning Jan Dhan accounts have been critical infrastructure for APY enrollment.

For UPSC, the relevance is layered: APY tests knowledge of social protection architecture, PFRDA's regulatory role, the NPS-APY distinction, gender dimensions (women subscribers remain lower), and the policy tension between voluntary enrollment versus mandated coverage for informal workers. The government co-contribution of 50% of the subscriber's contribution (or ₹1,000 per year, whichever is lower) for five years was a key demand-side incentive, now discontinued for new income-tax payers. That nuance — eligibility refinement over time — often appears in analytical questions.