Country India Ministry Finance | Prime Minister Narendra Modi Key people Arun Jaitley | |
Launched 9 May 2015; 22 months ago (2015-05-09) | ||
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana is a government-backed accident insurance scheme in India. It was originally mentioned in the 2015 Budget speech by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in February 2015. It was formally launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9 May in Kolkata. As of May 2015, only 20% of India's population has any kind of insurance, this scheme aims to increase the number.
Contents
Provisions
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana is available to people between 18 and 70 years of age with bank accounts. It has an annual premium of ₹12 (18¢ US).The Service tax exempted on Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana. The amount will be automatically debited from the account. In case of accidental death or full disability, the payment to the nominee will be ₹2 lakh (US$3,000) and in case of partial Permanent disability ₹1 lakh (US$1,500). Full disability has been defined as loss of use in both eyes, hands or feet. Partial Permanent disability has been defined as loss of use in one eye, hand or foot.
This scheme will be linked to the bank accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana scheme. Most of these account had zero balance initially. The government aims to reduce the number of such zero balance accounts by using this and related schemes.
Criticism
Private banks have complained that the Government should focus on upper middle class instead of the poorer section. Western scholars and Congress have argued that financial inclusion is a myth and serving such large number of people would only increase the burden and work-load of public sector.
Results
124,738,419 people i.e. 124 millions Indians have already enrolled for this scheme as of 2 February 2016.