Social Safety Schemes: Govt to rope in private sector for implementation

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Press Trust of India, New Delhi, March 3: Aiming to provide effective social security to citizens, the finance ministry proposes to rope in private sector insurance companies to promote a host of initiatives recently announced in the Budget.
“We will involve willing private sector insurance firms in popularising Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Atal Pension Yojana (APY),” department of financial services secretary Hasmukh Adhia told PTI in an interview.
“If the insurance companies comply with our parameters set for these simple-to-be administered schemes, they can sell these products,” he said.
As private sector banks participated in Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, similar interest is expected in the insurance and pension schemes announced in the Budget 2015-16, he said.
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna would be administered by public sector general insurance companies while Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana to be looked after by LIC to begin with.
“The beauty of these low premium products is that it is very simple and no other document is required except Aadhar. All those having a bank account can buy these products and secure their themselves against life and accidental risk,” he said.
“All citizens can subscribe to these schemes by paying full premium. The objective is to create safety net for the society and enable India to become a pensioned society,” he said.
The soon-to-be-launched Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna will cover accidental death risk of Rs 2 lakh for a premium of just Rs 12 per year.
Life insurance scheme, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana will cover both natural and accidental death risk of Rs 2 lakhs just at a premium of Rs 330 per year, or less than one rupee per day, for the age group 18-50.
Similarly, the budget has announced Atal Pension Yojana, a defined pension scheme. Total corpus would depend on the contribution and its period.
To encourage people to join this scheme, he said the Government will contribute 50 per cent of the beneficiaries’ premium limited to Rs 1,000 each year for five years in the new accounts opened before December 31, 2015.