Government’s flagship schemes like MGNREGA and Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY can be used to boost insurance coverage penetration in the unorganised sector in the nation, according to SBI Research.The cumulative quantity of enrolments below insurance coverage and pension schemes across all entities in India today stand at 68.98 crores, of which there are 10.34 crore persons enrolled in PMJJBY and 23.40 crore persons in PMSBY, with claim servicing ratio of 93.7% & 77.3% respectively.
There has also been substantial progress with regards to pension coverage for unorganised sector workers. For instance, below APY, 3.13 crore of persons have been enrolled till June 2021 with male to female subscription ratio of 56:44.
In the most current ‘Ecowrap’ report, Dr Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Adviser, SBI, encouraged that the ambit of supplying social safety succour to unorganised sector could be additional enhanced by means of two uncomplicated measures:
1. Through MGNREGA
MGNREGA has supplied livelihood safety till now. However, SBI Research proposes that it can be applied as a provider of social safety as effectively.
“For every 100-day worked, the Government can make a defined contribution of say 10 days for creating a social security. Further, there should be compulsory enrolment of MGNREGA workers in PMJJBY and PMSBY for a payment of only Rs 342 (330+12). As only 10% of HHs/individuals complete 100 days of work, the cost of compulsory enrolment will be only Rs 400-500 crore that can be borne by the Government and this could immediately benefit at least 1 crore additional people,” Dr Ghosh mentioned.
2. Through Ayushman Bharat- PMJAY
Under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), a total of 16.14 crore Ayushman cards have been issued to the scheme beneficiaries.
However, Dr Ghosh mentioned, “Government should launch an opt-in scheme for health insurance in line with Jan Suraksha schemes. The opt-in scheme may be implemented by auto debit amount from the interest from savings account and paying towards Mediclaim policy. The approximate size of the health insurance now is Rs 58,572 crore and savings bank interest is at least Rs 1.35 lakh crores. With the number of Jan Dhan accounts at 40 crores, the health insurance unveiled might potentially double the existing Ayushman coverage in one go!”