Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday asked the officials to implement the amendments done to the YSR Bima scheme from July 1, wherein the government would directly provide financial assistance to the kin of the deceased.
A sum of ₹1 lakh would be paid, if the breadwinner of the family in the age group of 18 to 50 years dies a natural death, and ₹5 lakh if the beneficiary aged between 18 and 70 years dies in an accident.
Special officer
Reviewing the YSR Bima scheme, the Chief Minister asked the officials to revamp the existing guidelines to make the claim-settlement process simple and easy. He made it clear that the compensation amount should be paid within a month of receiving the application and ordered appointment of a special officer to monitor the implementation of the scheme.
There should be no delay in payment of the money in case of death of farmers, accidental death of fishermen or death of livestock, said Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy and asked the district Collectors to ensure smooth settlements of the claims. The screening of applications could be handled by village and ward secretaries, he added.
The officials explained that around 1.4 crore ration card holders in the State are being covered under the YSR Bima scheme.
Despite the Central government, which paid 50 % of the premium amount earlier, withdrawing from the scheme, they said that the State government continued the insurance scheme by paying the entire premium amounts to ensure financial security to the families in need.
Citing delay in the process of opening bank accounts, linking them to the insurance and non-settlement of claims and compensating the affected families, they said even as the premium was being fully paid by the government, there were issues such as failure of the beneficiaries to open accounts or linking them to the insurance, resulting in pendency of applications in bank branches.
After completing the official formalities, 45 days is considered as the lean period and the authorities do not pay any compensation if the breadwinner of the family dies during that period. As many as 12,039 people died within 45 days of applying for the insurance and no compensation was paid to their families by the banks. But with the Chief Minister’s intervention, ₹254.72 crore has been paid to them on humanitarian grounds, they said.
So far, only 60 lakh accounts have been opened while 58 lakh applications have been pending in the State. Of the 6,173 applications received till date, only 2,839 beneficiaries have uploaded documents and 152 families have received the benefits.
Welfare schemes
Expressing satisfaction over the hard work of the Finance Department to ensure that the benefits of the welfare schemes reached the needy even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chief Minister said leaving no scope for corruption, the government had transferred ₹95,000 crore through DBT and had spent ₹1.35 lakh crore in total, including on welfare schemes such as Aarogyasri, Sampoorna Poshana and housing for the poor.