Sitharaman meets heads of insurers; stresses on faster claim settlement

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday reviewed the progress made under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) insurance scheme for health workers fighting COVID-19 and asked insurers to accelerate the disbursement of pending claims under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY).

During a virtual meeting with the heads of insurance companies, she stressed on the importance of streamlining the process and documentation requirements under the schemes so that the claims are disbursed speedily, an official statement said. The finance minister observed that under the PMGKP scheme, a total of 419 claims have been paid as on date, amounting to Rs 209.5 crore disbursed in the account of their nominees.

To address the issue of delays arising out of states sending documents, Sitharaman said that a new system has been put in place whereby a simple certificate from the District Magistrate (DM) and endorsed by the nodal state health authority will be sufficient to process these claims.

She also appreciated the efforts of New India Assurance Co which has been entrusted to manage the scheme and cited the example of Ladakh where a claim was settled within four hours of receiving the District Magistrate (DM) certificate and urged to maintain a similar approach in future.

The finance minister also directed the states to take up COVID claims of health workers on priority and make maximum use of this simplified mechanism that has been put in place. A total of 4.65 lakh claims have been paid amounting to Rs 9,307 crore under

PMJJBY. Since the beginning of the pandemic that is April 2020 onwards till date, 1.2 lakh claims have been paid amounting to Rs 2,403 crore, at a disposal rate of 99 per cent.