Pension...

So, for a ~3,000 pension a month (which is what the new scheme offers), a worker would have had to deposit ~126 (~42 a month multiplied by 3).

But analysts say some of the “disincentives” for poor workers in the erstwhile scheme still show up in the new scheme.

“Yes, the government is giving something for sure. I am not criticising the government on that count at all. But what is the interest rate being offered? Will it be an incentive enough?” asked Kundu, who has devised many welfare schemes. Kundu has been a member of the National Statistical Commission, evaluated minority welfare policies, headed a panel on affordable housing, and was most recently tasked with evaluating Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan (rural), the cleanliness-cum-sanitation programme launched by Modi in 2014.

In the earlier scheme, the interest rate — or rate of return — was about 7.5%. In the new