Empowering Women and Expanding Pension Horizons: Nirmala Sitharaman's Vision
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman aims to expand pension coverage in India by training women as 'Pension Sakhis', enhancing pension security for women, and promoting financial literacy. A new framework and scheme will offer investors more choices and potentially higher equity allocations, boosting the sector's growth and consumer benefits.
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- India
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasized the need to broaden pension coverage, particularly among the informal workforce. To achieve this, she called for the training of women as 'Pension Sakhis' to enhance social security for women.
Sitharaman outlined measures to simplify pension onboarding and proposed reforms like local language interfaces and doorstep e-KYC to facilitate the enrollment process. She also advocated for workplace auto-enrollment and secure contribution continuity to prevent lapses due to maternity and caregiving breaks.
The finance minister also announced the setup of a 'Forum for Regulatory Coordination and Development of Pension Products'. This aims to develop a unified framework and expand investor options with low-cost structures, allowing for significant equity allocations in the new Multiple Scheme Framework, effective October 1.
(With inputs from agencies.)
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