Pension Sakhis to take retirement security cover to rural India

The Department of Rural Development (DoRD) and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create and support a community-based outreach mechanism of ‘Pension Sakhis’ across rural India.

The initiative will use the women-led SHG network to improve pension coverage, especially among households with limited access to formal financial advice and retirement planning, as per the central government. Under the partnership, Pension Sakhis will work as trusted community-level facilitators, reaching SHG members, rural women, Lakhpati Didis and other rural participants. They will provide information on pensions and retirement planning, help with enrolment and assist people in understanding pension-related services.

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The collaboration will also “strengthen” monitoring of outreach and enrolment through digital dashboards and mobile- and web-based solutions including the Department’s own LoKoS system, enabling the participating institutions to track progress and identify gaps in coverage, as per the ministry. Community-level outreach will be supported by appropriate digital systems for monitoring and service delivery.

The initiative would contribute to a broader shift in the rural financial inclusion agenda—from access to financial services towards informed participation, long-term savings and financial resilience, the government stated.

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“Rural households participating in the SHG movement have distinctive savings patterns, livelihood cycles and risk profiles, and that social security must therefore become an important part of the Mission’s larger objective of sustainable prosperity,” said Rohit Kansal, Secretary, Department of Rural Development.

He emphasised that “social security is not only about protection against vulnerability; it is also about giving households the confidence and resilience to pursue sustained economic advancement.”