Dechen Dolkar 

The rural life insurance claim is expected to increase from Nu 30,000 to a minimum of Nu 150,000 for individuals.

On Friday, during the question hour session in the National Assembly, the Member Parliament (MP) from Mongar Constituency, Karma Lhamo said that the motion for revision of the rural life insurance scheme moved by Mongar dzongkhag in 2019 has benefited the rural people with the revision.

Until 2009 the premium paid by individuals was Nu 30 annually and the total claim was Nu 10,000 after death. After increasing the premium by an individual paid to Nu 45, the claim rose to Nu 15,000.

In 2019, the claim was increased to Nu 30,000. The government pays a premium of Nu 108 and an individual contributes Nu 87, a total premium of Nu 195 annually.

The MP said that it has been five years without a revision despite the rise in inflation. “It will benefit the low-income people immensely for their funeral rites,” the MP said.

Finance Minister Namgay Tshering said that the government has already initiated the revision.

“About 90 percent of the work is done. It will not take more than four months to complete the remaining revision work,” he said.  

Lyonpo said that the government discussed with Royal Insurance Corporation Limited the scheme revision.

“We understand that Nu 30,000 is not enough for rituals. The government proposed to increase the claim to a minimum of Nu 150,000 and a maximum of Nu 200,000 for individuals,” Lyonpo said.

However, Lyonpo said that the government felt that it should be categorised into two groups, those earning salaries and those who are not.

For those salaried people, the government will provide a subsidy of 30 percent of the premium and 70 percent should be paid by themselves. This means the individuals will have to pay more than Nu 200 annually.  The government will have to pay more than Nu 100, in total which will amount to about Nu 400 annually.

For the rural people, the government will provide a subsidy of 70 percent of the premium and 30 percent of the premium will be paid by themselves annually.

Lyonpo said that this will bridge the gap between those getting a salary and those rural people.