The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on January 21, 2026, approved the continuation of the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) up to the financial year 2030-31, along with extended government funding for outreach, promotional activities, and gap funding. The APY, launched in 2015 as part of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana ecosystem and regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) under the Ministry of Finance, targets workers in the unorganised sector who lack access to formal pension schemes. As of January 19, 2026, the scheme had enrolled more than 8.66 crore (86.6 million) subscribers, making it one of the world's largest government-backed pension programmes for the informal workforce. Under the scheme, subscribers aged 18-40 years can contribute monthly to receive a guaranteed minimum pension of ₹1,000, ₹2,000, ₹3,000, ₹4,000, or ₹5,000 per month upon reaching the age of 60, depending on their contribution level. In the event of the subscriber's death, the spouse receives the same pension, and upon the death of both, the accumulated corpus is returned to the nominee. The government provides a co-contribution of 50% of the subscriber's contribution or ₹1,000 per annum (whichever is lower) for five years for subscribers who joined before March 31, 2016, who were not income tax payers and not members of any other statutory social security scheme. The APY extension is significant for Rajasthan, where a large proportion of the workforce is employed in the unorganised sector — agriculture, construction, handicrafts, stone mining, and domestic work. Rajasthan has been an active APY enrolment state, and the extension ensures continued social security coverage for millions of workers in the state.