The government is working towards a pension scheme for the informal sector, which comprises 88 per cent of the workforce in the country, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Chairman Hemant G Contractor has said.

Currently only 3-4 per cent employees in this sector have any kind of pension coverage which is also inadequate in terms of the escalating living and healthcare costs, he told at FICCI conference on pension sector in India.

Contractor said that the government’s Atal Pension Scheme had received a good response and it had been able to attract many individuals from the lower strata of society. But for people below the poverty line, who do not have the capacity to join a voluntary pension scheme, the government needs to create a social scheme that provides coverage when they turn senior citizens.

He said that in India, 10 per cent of the global senior citizens reside and with an increase in life expectancy this number would double in 15 years from now. Hence, awareness needed to be created regarding the existing pension schemes to ensure a comfortable life once a person attains the age of 60.

Contractor said that the government and PFRDA were working towards developing pension schemes that were flexible, portable and transparent in terms of financial implications.

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