The schemes — which include accident insurance, life insurance and a pension plan — aim to incorporate people from the economically deprived and unorganised sections, who are neither covered by any form of insurance nor get any kind of pension.
The Prime Minister launched three social security schemes, including an insurance cover for less than Re 1 per day, and said that the poor “need empowerment, not aid”. Modi said Rs 15,800 crore has been deposited in the 15 crore Jan Dhan accounts opened in four months and the scheme to provide cooking gas subsidy directly into bank accounts of beneficiaries has helped stop pilferages and leakages worth hundreds of crores of rupees. “I told the poor, this nation, this government and our banks are for you... poor do not want ‘sahara’. We need to change how we think. The poor need ‘shakti’,” he said at the event, also attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Modi said 80-90 per cent people in the country neither have insurance cover nor any possibility of pension. While the three schemes will come into force from June 1, the Prime Minister said in the first seven days of the trial-run, banks have enrolled 5.05 crore people, including 42 lakh from West Bengal. The schemes — Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) — were simultaneously launched at 115 locations throughout the country.
Stating that it is a misconception that large industrial houses provide more jobs, Modi said about 5.5 crore small and medium entrepreneurs provide employment to more than 14 crore people.
“We can achieve whatever but if the fruits do not reach the poor, our development journey is incomplete... we are calling the world to make in India and at the same time we are opening bank accounts for the poor,” he said.
The Prime Minister also urged people to pay small premiums towards insurance schemes for their domestic helps, drivers, and liftmen, among others. Paying tributes to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Modi said: “this land (Bengal) has been blessed by Goddess Lakshmi and Saraswati”.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has urged Modi to give West Bengal a complete debt waiver.
She added that governments must always work for the people.
“Centre and states have to work together. That is when good of the nation happens. Let us dedicate this programme to the people of India,” she said.
Banerjee, who shared the stage with Modi for the first time since he assumed office, also urged the PM to ensure that at least every panchayat in the country is covered by banking services. “After I came to power in 2011 more than 1,000 panchayats out of 3,500 in the state did not have banks. Then we offered one rupee rent to banks and asked them to open branches. We have been able to open 171 banks out of the 1,000 left. I would request the Centre to see that at least every panchayat is covered by banking services so that it helps the poor,” she said. Referring to Banerjee’s statement, Modi, during his speech, said: “The West Bengal Chief Minister said many panchayats do not have bank branches. She believes it is me who can do it.”
Citing the achievements of the TMC government in the empowerment of girls, Banerjee spoke about the success of the ‘Kanyashree’ project which has covered 24 lakh girl child in the state.
PMSBY will offer a renewable one year accidental death-cum-disability cover of Rs 2 lakh for partial/permanent disability to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-70 years for a premium of Rs 12 per annum per subscriber.
PMJJBY, on the other hand, will offer a renewable one year life cover of Rs 2 lakh to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-50 years, covering death due to any reason, for a premium of Rs 330 per annum per subscriber. Atal Pension Yojana will focus on the unorganised sector and provide subscribers a fixed minimum pension of Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000, Rs 3,000, Rs 4,000 or Rs 5,000 per month, starting at the age of 60 years, depending on the contribution option exercised on entering at an age between 18 and 40 years.