Jagan launches YSR Bima, allocates Rs. 750 crore for 2021-22
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday launched the YSR Bima scheme with new guidelines according to which the government will directly pay the insurance amount to the family of the deceased. Also, the state allocated Rs. 750 crores for 2021-22 to support 1.32 lakh families under the insurance scheme.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 1 July 2021 2:17 PM GMT
Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday launched the YSR Bima scheme with new guidelines according to which the government will directly pay the insurance amount to the family of the deceased. Also, the state allocated Rs. 750 crores for 2021-22 to support 1.32 lakh families under the insurance scheme.
In the last two years, the state had spent Rs. 1,307 crore.
The Chief Minister said the government has prioritized public health care and introduced YSR Bima, an insurance scheme to support families who have lost their bread winner. Under the scheme, an amount of Rs. 1 lakh will be paid if the beneficiary aged between 18 to 50 years, who is the breadwinner of the family, succumbs to natural death. A sum of Rs. 5 lakh will be paid if the beneficiary in the age group of 18 to 70 years dies in an accident.
Jagan said the Union government which was earlier paying 50 per cent of the premium had withdrawn from the insurance scheme from April 2020. After the Centre's withdrawal, the entire premium was being paid by the state, he said, adding that the Centre had introduced new clauses, closing the existing group insurance system and making bank accounts mandatory for every person in the family. The Centre had also put another clause: a 45-day lien period from the day of opening the account, where if someone dies within 45 days, the insurance will not be paid.
The CM said the state government had brought 1.2 crore families under the scheme and paid the premiums to the banks. However, only 62.5 lakh accounts were opened though the state government has credited the insurance premiums. Banks are required to follow up individual insurance claims with insurance companies to process the registration but they are unable to do so causing severe delay in the receipt of claims. Even after enrollment, with the 45-day lien period, 12,039 families had not received their claims. The state government, therefore, paid all the claims by spending Rs. 254 crore, Jagan added.
He further said the government will clear the claims within a month of receiving the application. The responsibility for screening insurance applications has been given to village/ward secretariats monitored by the joint collectors, Jagan said, adding that any eligible person who was left out from YSR Bima can call toll free number 155214 to get registered or to resolve their issues.
