AMIN secretary
Recently in a seminar held by the South Asia Agriculture and Rural Development Unit, and the Insurance for the Poor Program in the Financial and Private Sector Development of the World Bank, Andhra Pradesh (India) government shared its experience on co-contributory pensions for the poor in the unorganized sector, which is the world's largest co-contributory pension scheme for the poor in the unorganized sector.
The newly enacted program, called Abhaya Hastham, is a Co-Contributory Pension Scheme for women above the age group of 18, and it is targeted towards women belonging to the self-help groups in the state. The scheme envisages contribution at the rate of 1 rupee per day or Rs360 (US$7.5) per year by SHG women and government's co-contribution is capped at Rs360 (or US$7.5) per member per year, and it expects to enroll more than 6 million SHG Women members by December 2009.
