Chennai: Nearly a month after three low premium insurance and pension schemes by Narendra Modi-led NDA government was introduced, there is hesitation and lack of awareness among people on the welfare measures. Street vendors, domestic helps and labourers in the city, whom the schemes target, are either unaware or unsure of how the schemes work.“I hold an LIC policy, but I did not know about these plans. I will enquire at the bank” said V. Banupriya, a housemaid at T. Nagar.
R. Udayakumar and Uma Devi, a fruit juice vendor, said they heard about the schemes on TV but they do not have any idea about how to enrol themselves. Some do not have faith in the policies. As Ramanan, a juice vendor says “When am I going to die and when will the money reach my family?,” However, they have savings bank accounts in banks to receive their gas subsidy amount via Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme.
“Half the people do not understand how important social security is. In that case, the government must make the Rs12 premium per annum (PMSBY) accident insurance scheme compulsory,” says a retired post office employee of Velachery. He is of the view that the age limit of the life insurance scheme (PMJJBY) must be increased. “Even LIC policies like Jeevan Nidhi offer schemes at maximum age limit 65,” he points out.
Andhra Bank at Mylapore stuck pamphlets and hung danglers about the Prime Minister’s insurance schemes all over their premises. Nearly 1,040 account holders have enrolled in total in their branch alone, out of which 954 have enrolled into PMSBY, 84 have enrolled themselves in PMJJBY and only two have enrolled in APY schemes.
