Bhubaneswar: The Development Commissioner for Handloom, New Delhi, is eager to include 48,000 handloom weavers and workers of Odisha in the insurance schemes of the Centre with revised norms.
The Commissioner has asked the state to include 44,023 beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana (PMJJY) and the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), and has set a target of 3,977 beneficiaries for the Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana (MGBBY).
Meanwhile, the Centre has brought MGBBY under the PMJJBY/PMSBY schemes from this fiscal.
However, the state government which was earlier enrolling weavers under MGBBY has already enrolled 3,977 beneficiaries, and now wants the Centre to consider going ahead with the threshold number under the MGBBY scheme.
Citing this as reason, the department has asked the Centre to allow the coverage of the 5,860 more eligible handloom weavers and workers in the state under the converged MGBBY scheme.
Both these schemes are government supported insurance schemes covering accidents and disability. They are offered through public sector insurance companies.
PMSBY assures a sum of Rs 2 lakh for beneficiaries under PMJJY and covers the death of the insured regardless of the cause of death.
The MGBBY scheme provides insurance cover to handloom weavers in case of natural death, accidental death, total disability as well as partial disability.