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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Finance Ministry to provide 'affordable' 3-in-1 security for unorganized sector workers by Dheeraj Tiwari

Finance Ministry to provide 'affordable' 3-in-1 security for unorganized sector workers by Dheeraj Tiwari

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published Published on Nov 16, 2011   modified Modified on Nov 16, 2011

The finance ministry is putting shape to a new social security scheme for unorganized sector workers, creating for the first time a safety net for millions of underpaid and overworked people, many of whom living in abject poverty. 

The ministry has discussed with the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and the four state run non-life insurance companies the contours of this scheme that will provide life insurance, health cover and retirement pension to some 15 crore unorganized sector workers for a nominal amount. 

This three-in-one protection, the cost of which will be mostly funded by the central and state governments, is aimed at taking care of workers and their families' medical needs, support the family in the event of death of the main breadwinner and provide some income during retirement. 

"It will provide a complete insurance package for the policy holder," said one finance ministry official, requesting anonymity. 

The scheme envisages state and the central governments bearing 75% of the cost, with the remaining amount to be paid by the policyholder. 

"As of now we have worked out that the annual premium for such a product should be in the range of 2,500 to 3,000. But if we achieve economies of scale, it may be brought down further," the official said. 

LIC will act as the trustee of the overall fund and the lead insurer in most of the states. Private life and non-life insurers may be roped in at a later stage. 

A government panel headed by the late Arjun Sengupta, an economist and parliamentarian who headed the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector, had in 2006 estimated about 92% of the country's workforce to be in the so-called 'informal sector'. 

Unorganised sector workers are not only poorly paid, but often do not get any health cover from employers and are not part of any pension plan that helps them accumulate a corpus for retirement. 

A senior LIC official said offering three benefits in one scheme could be a big challenge, especially since the premium amount was envisaged to be low. 

"What we can do is to use the platform of the existing schemes and club the pension product or life product," he said. 

The structure of the scheme envisages a central recordkeeping agency to maintain individual details. 

"It will be a convergence with the whole financial inclusion plan as a person will have a bank account and a total insurance cover. So, even if he is a migrant labour, the IFSC code will give his family access to benefits under the scheme," the finance ministry official said. 

The government could also consider bringing its flagship healthcare and insurance schemes -- Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and the Aam Admi Bima Yojana - targeted at poor people under the fold of this comprehensive coverage. 

"We will be working with the concerned ministries and see if those scheme can be merged with this or whether the three products can be offered to the poor on a single platform," the financial ministry official quoted earlier said. 

At present, there are 2.5 crore beneficiaries under the RSBY scheme, which provides health insurance for people living below the poverty line, and around 1.78 crore policy holders in the Aam Aadmi Bima Yojna scheme. Started in 2007, the AABY provides an insurance cover to the head of a family or one earning member of rural landless households.


The Economic Times, 16 November, 2011, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/finance-ministry-to-provide-affordable-3-in-1-security-for-unorganized-sector-workers/articleshow/1074774


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