With the Government fulfilling its commitment made in the Union
Budget 2015-16, CII welcomes the launch of Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana
(PMSBY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Atal Pension
Yojana (APV) as the milestone steps towards creating a universal social
security system in India, especially for the poor and the under-privileged and
the workers in the unorganised sector.
“Moving forward from the success of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
(PMJDY), the next steps taken by the Government for establishing linkages of
the three social security schemes with the bank accounts will go a long way in
expanding the penetration of insurance and pension in the country and serve the
cause of extending universal social security cover in the most economical and
efficient manner. This is a huge step in the direction of creating universal
social security system in India,” said Mr Sumit Mazumder, President, CII.
Mr Mazumder added “the schemes presage a new era of inclusivity,
not just because they will greatly benefit the common masses, but for the fact
that these have been devised and designed in such a way that people will get
affordable universal access to essential social security protection in the
easiest possible manner linked to auto-debit facility from bank
accounts”.
“A total benefit of Rs 4 lakh in case of accidental death is a
substantial sum considering the large masses of Indian population which have no
social security and insurance at present,” commented Mr Mazumder.
“We are happy that the Hon’ble Prime Minister chose Kolkata to
launch these nation-wide schemes in the presence of, the Hon’ble Chief Minister
of West Bengal. The schemes are also hugely beneficial for the people of West
Bengal and will positively impact their lives and living,” Mr Mazumder
said.
Riding on the massive success of the Jan-Dhan Yojana, which has
witnessed opening up of nearly 15 crore bank accounts (with total deposits of
around Rs 16,000 crores) throughout the country since its launch by the Prime
Minister in August last year, the next steps announced by the Government augurs
well for expanding the coverage of insurance and pensions in the country.
It is important to note that currently the overall penetration of
insurance in the country stands low at only around 4 per cent whereas in case
of pensions it is estimated that the unorganised sector workers, which
constitute about 88 per cent of the total labour force does not have any formal
pension provision.
CII is confident that the three social security schemes will see
similar success as witnessed by the Jan Dhan Yojana and will be working closely
with the Government to encourage its member companies to subscribe to these
schemes, said the CII release.
New Delhi
9th May 2015