The Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana aims to provide life and disability cover to all rural landless households in the country

The Indian government has formally launched a health insurance scheme for all unorganised sector workers who are below the poverty line. The Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana is expected to provide health and disability cover to an estimated 400 million workers in the informal sector who hitherto had no insurance.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram, accompanied by Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Oscar Fernandes, inaugurated the historic welfare scheme in the Himachal Pradesh capital Shimla, on October 2, by handing over smart cards for the scheme to local beneficiaries.

The scheme aims to provide life and disability cover to all rural landless households in the country. Any worker in the unorganised sector (that employs 92% of India’s workforce) who is below the official poverty line (that is, earns less than Rs 12 per day) is eligible for health cover under the scheme. “The health insurance cover will benefit workers and families living below the poverty line (BPL) in the unorganised sector, and government has already asked to formulate this project,” a labour ministry official in New Delhi said.

The Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana will cover the head of the household or one earning member of a rural landless household who is between 18-59 years old.

First, smart cards with a social security number will be issued to all those eligible for the scheme, as a means of identifying them and preventing misuse.

Under the scheme, Rs 75,000 will be provided to a beneficiary’s family in cases of death or permanent disability due to a workplace accident.

In cases of partial disability due to an accident, the insurance cover will be Rs 37,500; in the event of death, prior to the termination date, Rs 30,000 will be given as assurance money to the nearest relative.

The total premium for the scheme has been fixed at Rs 200 per month, per beneficiary. This will be borne jointly by the central and state governments in a 75:25 ratio.

The finance minister has already committed Rs 1,000 crore in the Union budget to meet the Centre’s funding burden for the scheme; the rest will be provided by the states.

The scheme will also provide a Rs 100 per month scholarship amount each to two children from every rural landless household who are studying in the 9-12th standards.

Source: newsindia.com, October 2, 2007
                www.zeenews.com, October 1, 2007
               UNI, October 1, 2007