PIB Delhi: The heads of insurance companies had a meet with Union Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman through a Video conference to review the progress made under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19 and also to accelerate the disbursement of pending claims under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) during the pandemic.

A new system has been put in place to address the issue of delays arising out of States sending documents, the FM said that whereby a simple certificate from the District Magistrate (DM) and endorsed by the nodal state health authority is sufficient to claim the process.

An instant pressure was created by her towards the importance of fastening the process and documentation requirements as the main target under the schemes so that the claims are disbursed speedily.

New India Assurance Co has been appreciated by her for its efforts to manage the scheme. Further, the States were directed by Sitharaman to take up COVID claims of health workers on priority and make maximum use of this simplified mechanism for the same. Insurance company officials were asked to continue with the sympathetic services while to the nominees of deceased policyholders, especially during the pandemic period. She also appreciated the recent efforts made by insurance companies and banks in the speedy processing of claims.

Under PMJJBY, it's observed further that a total of 4.65 lakh claims have been paid of value Rs. 9,307 crore and since the beginning of the pandemic i.e., 1st April 2020 onwards till date, 1.2 lakh claims have been paid amounting to Rs. 2,403 Cr, at a disposal rate of 99%. A total of 419 claims have been paid as of date under the PMGKP scheme, amounting to Rs 209.5 crore disbursed in the account of their nominees, said in the review meeting by FM.

Finance Minister also took the stock review of the disposal of claims made under the PMSBY scheme and said that a total of 82,660 claims have been paid of value Rs. 1,629 crore as of May 31, 2021. She, at last, appreciated a few of the initiatives taken recently to facilitate claims which provided much-needed financial support relief to nominees processing under PMJJBY and PMSBY during the pandemic.