New Delhi |HL
Amid to boost the social security for the poor people,the government is launching insurance scheme under which all Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) account holders will be offered free Rs 2-lakh insurance cover for three years.
According to government officials “There are various proposals that are being considered,. “One of them is to provide the insurance cover and the government will bear the premium cost for three years.”
There are about 27 crore account holders under the PMJDY fiscal inclusion scheme. Of these, 16 crore have been seeded with Aadhaar numbers, ensuring that welfare payments reach their intended beneficiaries.
If the scheme provides both accident and life insurance, the benefit could cost the government more than Rs 9,000 crore, it’s been estimated. The government launched three social security programmes in 2014 — the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) — to bring the poor into the fold of formal financial services. According to finance ministry data, 3.06 crore people have been enrolled under PMJJBY and 9.72 crore under PMSBY. Insurance penetration — the proportion of premiums to GDP — is low; it was 3.44% in 2015. The life insurance cover under PMJJBY is available for an upfront premium payment of Rs 330.
