Sitharaman meets heads of insurance companies to review progress of PMGKP and PMJJBY; calls for faster settlement of claims

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met the heads of insurance companies to review the progress made under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) insurance scheme for health workers fighting COVID-19.

The meeting through video conferencing also sought to accelerate the disbursement of pending claims under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) during the pandemic, under which 1.2 lakh claims of Rs 2,403 crore have been paid since April 1 2020 till date.

Sitharaman stressed the importance of streamlining the process and documentation requirements under the schemes so that the claims are disbursed speedily, said an official statement.

Accoirding to the Ministry of Finance, she observed that under the PMGKP scheme, a total of 419 claims have been paid as of date, amounting to Rs 209.5 crore disbursed in the account of their nominees.

In order to address the issue of delays arising out of states sending documents, the Finance Minister said that a new system has been put in place whereby a simple certificate from the District Magistrate (DM) and endorsed by the nodal state health authority will be sufficient to process these claims.

She also appreciated the efforts of New India Assurance Co which has been entrusted to manage the scheme and cited the example of Ladakh where a claim was settled within 4 hours of receiving the DM certificate and urged to maintain a similar approach in future.

The Finance Minister also directed the States to take up COVID claims of health workers on priority and make maximum use of this simplified mechanism that has been put in place.

She further observed that under PMJJBY, a total of 4.65 lakh claims have been paid of value Rs 9,307 crore and since the beginning of the pandemic i.e., April 1 2020 onwards till date, 1.2 lakh claims have been paid amounting to Rs 2,403 crore, at a disposal rate of 99 per cent. She also took stock of the disposal of claims made under PMSBY scheme and said that a total of 82,660 claims have been paid of value Rs. 1,629 crore as of May 31, 2021.

Appreciating the recent efforts made by insurance companies and banks in the speedy processing of claims, she emphasised that insurance company officials should continue being sympathetic while providing services to nominees of deceased policy holders, especially during pandemic period.

PMJJBY and PMSBY were launched in 2015 to provide life and accidental insurance covers respectively of Rs 2 lakh each to all beneficiaries enrolled under the schemes through their bank with an annual premium of only Rs 330 and Rs 12, respectively. The objective is to ensure that more and more persons working in the unorganised segment get the much-needed financial security of Rs 4 lakh by enrolling themselves under PMJJBY and PMSBY at a premium of less than Rs 1 per day.

( With inputs from ANI )