Finance Minister Reviews Implementation of Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID 19 Announced under PMGKP; Emphasizes the need for Speedy Settlement and Benefit Reaching Out to the Nominees at the earliest

Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt Nirmala Sitharaman chaired a meeting to review the implementation of Insurance Scheme for Health workers fighting COVID 19 announced under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) through video conferencing on 13 July 2020. The meeting was attended by senior officials from Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and New India Assurance Company Limited.

A presentation was made by the Chairman & Managing Director of New India Assurance providing details about the highlight of the scheme and its status of implementation as on date.

Officials from Ministry of Health & Family Welfare provided an overview of the mechanism being followed with State nodal authorities to expedite the claims, also highlighting the issues being faced while reaching out to the family of deceased as well as obtaining the legal heir certificate.

Of the 147 intimations received till date, claim documents have been submitted for 87, out of which 15 have been paid, 4 approved for payment while 13 are under examination. Further, a total of 55 claims have been found ineligible out of which 35 claims fall outside the scope of the cover like police personnel, municipal workers not related to hospitals, people from education, revenue departments, etc. while another 20 claims submitted have the cause of death other than COVID-19 like cardiac arrest, etc.

During the meeting, the Finance Minister highlighted the importance for a speedy settlement and emphasized the need of the benefit reaching out to the nominees at the earliest.