TURA: The central government backed life insurance scheme in India- Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima yojana which was launched across the country as far back as February 2015 is failing to reach its target in the Garo Hills where thousands of bank account holders have not availed this service, primarily due to lack of awareness about its existence.
The scheme was initially linked only to the bank accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana scheme that gave an opportunity for the economically marginalized people to open zero balance accounts for the first time. The facility is now available to all bank account holders.
Latest details from the largest district in the region, West Garo Hills district including South West Garo Hills, indicate that a mere 57,280 bank account holders have joined the insurance scheme, till date.
This is apparently due to failure on the part of banks to create awareness among the people about the availability of the insurance cover under the Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana. A majority of account holders feign ignorance about the presence of such an insurance cover.
The Jeevan Jyoti Bima scheme, which is exempted from GST, is available to people between the ages of 18 and 50 years with bank accounts. A mere Rs 330 is required to pay the annual premium which is automatically debited from the account. In case of death due to any cause, the nominee is to be paid Rs 2 lakh.
West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, Ram Singh, in a meeting with bank officials this week has questioned the slow pace of insurance cover to account holders.
“The bank officials have been asked to organize an intensive coverage about the central schemes in as many as 205 villages in the district through the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan,” said Mr Singh while speaking to The Shillong Times.
As per the economic census there are 1,38,760 households that can open bank accounts under the Jhan Dhan Yojana but, so far only 1,02,687 have been enrolled into the banking system in the district. The enrollment for insurance cover is a dismal five digit figure.