Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy released Rs 254.72 crore under YSR Bima to the families of 12,039 deceased, who were eligible for the scheme but did not enroll with the banks. Speaking at the event, the Chief Minister said that the State Government has not backed out in providing financial assistance to those families who lost their sole breadwinner. Even though the government pays premium to banks, due to non-enrollment under YSR Bima, the government came forward to pay for the 12,039 claims.
The Chief Minister explained that there are about 1.4 crore ration card holders across the State, and the government started YSR Bima in October 2020 by paying a premium of Rs 510 crore to the banks, despite Central Government withdrawing from the scheme, which was earlier paying 50 percent of 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 a mandatory bank account for every person in the family. The Centre had put another clause of a 45-day cool-off period from the day of account opening, where if someone dies within 45 days, the insurance will not be paid.
The Chief Minister said that 62 lakh accounts were opened so far and the remaining 70 lakh accounts are yet to be opened. The Chief Minister directed the officials to come up with a practical solution to sort out the issues and for the better implementation of YSR Bima. He assured that the government shall pay the premium just like the previous years and told the authorities to find a practical solution to support families in need. Further, the Chief Minister said that any eligible person who was left out from YSR Bima can call toll free number 155214 for getting registered and assured that the government will take steps to ensure that they get benefitted. Under the scheme, insurance amount for accidental death and total permanent disability for people aged between 18-50 years is Rs 5 lakh and for those between 51-70 years Rs 3 lakh. Similarly, for natural death cases (18-50 years) Rs 2 lakh and for partial, permanent disability in an accident case (18-70 years) Rs 1.5 lakh assistance will be provided.