Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday released ₹254.72 crore under YSR Bima to the families of 12,039 deceased persons, who were eligible for the scheme but did not enrol themselves with the banks.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said the government had not backed out in providing financial assistance to those families who lost their sole breadwinner.
“Though the government pays premium to the banks, due to non-enrolment under the YSR Bima, these beneficiaries have been left out. The government has come forward to pay for the 12,039 claims,” he said.
The Chief Minister explained that there were about 1.40 crore ration card-holders in the State, and the government started YSR Bima in October 2020 by paying a premium of ₹510 crore to the banks despite the Central government withdrawing from the scheme.
The Centre was earlier paying 50% of the premium. After the Centre’s withdrawal, the entire premium was paid by the State on humanitarian grounds to provide security for those families in need.
“However, the Centre has put more clauses, closing the existing group insurance system and made bank accounts mandatory for every person in a family. The Centre has put another clause of a 45-day cool-off period from the day of account opening. That is, if someone dies within 45 days, the insurance will not be paid,” the Chief Minister said.
He further said that 62 lakh accounts had been opened so far, and the remaining 70 lakh accounts were yet to be opened.
The Chief Minister said that any eligible person who was left out from YSR Bima could call the toll-free number, 155214, for getting registered. The government would take steps to ensure that they received the benefit, he added.
Scheme benefits
Under the scheme, insurance amount for accidental death and total permanent disability for people aged between 18 and 50 is ₹5 lakh. For those between 51 and 70 years, it is ₹3 lakh.
Similarly, for natural death (18-50 years) ₹2 lakh and for partial, permanent disability in an accident (18-70 years) ₹1.5 lakh assistance would be provided.
Deputy Chief Minister (Revenue) Dharmana Krishnadas, Labour Minister G. Jayaram, Special Chief Secretary (housing) Ajay Jain and Principal Secretary (labour) B. Udaya Lakshmi were among those present.