Public sector banks (PSBs) have set a target for the sale of flagship government insurance schemes Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) in FY24.
Besides, they have also set goals for other financial inclusion schemes like Mudra Yojana and StandUp India Scheme.
There are about 8.3 crore beneficiaries under PMJJBY and 23.9 crore under PMSBY, as of now. Since the launch of the schemes in 2015, 15.99 crore enrolment has taken place under PMJJBY, while 33.78 crore under PMSBY as of March 31, 2023.
Last year, the finance ministry revised rates from ₹330 to ₹436 under PMJJBY and from ₹12 to ₹20 for PMSBY, effective June 1, 2022. The revision was being undertaken because of the long-standing adverse claims experience by the schemes and to make them economically viable.
According to sources, the ministry has asked banks to encourage customers to buy these policies for multi-years rather than renewing every year.
PMJJBY offers life insurance cover of ₹2 lakh, in case of death due to any reason, to people in the age group of 18-50 years having a bank or post office account, who give consent to join or enable auto-debit of premium.
On the other hand, the PMSBY offers insurance cover of ₹2 lakh for accidental death or total permanent disability and ₹1 lakh for partial permanent disability to people in the age group of 18-70 years with a bank or post office account, who give consent to join or enable auto-debit of premium.
Last week, the ministry held a meeting with heads of PSBs and financial institutions and urged them to push various financial inclusion schemes, including Jan Suraksha and Mudra Yojana. Department of Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi exhorted the PSBs to achieve the targets allocated to them under the various schemes for financial inclusion in a time-bound manner.
To achieve saturation under PMJJBY and PMSBY, the finance ministry launched a three-month campaign, starting April 1. Banks were advised to leverage their Banking correspondent network for outreach and enrolling potential beneficiaries.
Under the campaign, camps are being organised at the Gram Panchayat level across all districts in the country by the banks, with the active participation of the state administration and other ministries of the central government to ensure that the benefits of the two Jan Suraksha schemes reach the masses.
Recently, early this April, Lok Sabha was informed that India’s health insurance segment contributed 0.34 percentage point out of the overall 1 percentage point of general insurance (including health insurance) penetration in the country during FY22.