11 years of Jan Suraksha schemes

Context

On 9th May 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three flagship schemes for Jan Suraksha – Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bi11 years of Jan Suraksha schemesma Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) in a successful manner, which would mark its operational success after 11 years in May 2026. The schemes were introduced to fill the social security loopholes in the unorganized sector and to provide the “poorest of the poor” with affordable life insurance cover, accidental cover and pension support for old age, etc.

The Three Pillars of Jan Suraksha

The social security umbrella is supported by three key social security initiatives which are administered via banks, post offices and online tracking systems:

1. Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY)

• Nature: Renewable, 1 year term life insurance policy for death caused by any other cause.
• Eligible Savings Accounts: Bank or post office savings accounts from 18-50 years old.
• Premium & Payout: The cost to extend a life coverage sum of ₹2 lakh for life coverage for the nominee is ₹436, which is auto-debited annually.

2. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY)

• Nature: A low cost annual accidental insurance policy that safeguards against accidental death and permanent physical disabilities.
• Eligibility: Applies to individual account holders, across the broader age range of 18-70 year olds.
• Priced at an affordable premium of ₹20 per annum, Premium & Payout is a wonderful choice. It offers a cover of ₹2 lakhs in case of accidental death or total disability which cannot be recovered and ₹1 lakh in the event of partial disabilities.

3. Atal Pension Yojana (APY)

• Nature: was an initiative to provide a State guaranteed minimum pension mechanism especially designed for the large unorganised sector worker population.
• Age Ranges: Ages 18-40, only for non-income tax-paying bank account holders.
• Premium & Payout: Contributions will be scaled dynamically according to age at entry. It offers the insurance that it will provide a guaranteed monthly pension ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 when the purchaser reaches the age of 60, in the event of his death, it will pass the entire corpus to the nominee.

Key Institutional Achievements over 11 Years

• Pervasive Scale: There have been almost 95 crores of people registered in the three programs nationally, establishing a strong safety net.
• Large amounts of claims settled under the insurance components have been in excess of ₹25,000 crore. This includes more than ₹21,512 crore disbursed through PMJJBY and more than ₹3,660 crore disbursed through PMSBY to support lakh of distressed families.
• Deepening Gender Inclusivity: Financial autonomy of women has been set for the schemes. APY subscribers are about 49% female, PMSBY enrollee is 27.45 crore and PMJJBY accounts are more than 12.72 crore of which 50% are female.
• Premium recovery automation: The PMJDY integration connects millions of basic accounts with the welfare infrastructure, ensuring automated premium recovery.

Transformative Impact on Social Security

• Financial Inclusion to Financial Security: These schemes were based on the Jan Dhan Yojana structure which facilitated automated, digital enrolment and paperless claim settlements through Jan Suraksha Portal.
• Structural Change: The attention is now on systemic, sustainable finance protection.
• High enrolment rates of women in insurance and pension schemes have improved their financial security and financial independence, especially in the rural areas through empowerment of ‘Nari Shakti’.
• These schemes, which protect almost a billion people, have substantially lowered the vulnerability of low-income households to sudden, crippling economic shocks, particularly through their social safety net.

Challenges and Future Roadmap

• As the price of health care and inflation goes up, the government is thinking of raising the sum assured from ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh so that the coverage is meaningful.
• Although the various forms of bank Mitras, IPPB (India Post Payments Bank) and digital initiatives have made a difference, it is important to scale up uptake in the remote informal economy.
• Making sure that the schemes are low cost and that payments are made by auto-debit in a timely manner.

Conclusion

The Jan Suraksha schemes, over the last 11 years have become an effective safety net, keeping in sync with the vision of ‘Insurance for All’ and ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’. They have managed to create a financial risk management culture within the most vulnerable part of the Indian population, and thus spread social security to the masses in terms of accessibility, affordability and inclusiveness.

Source: TOI

UPSC Practice Question 

Q. With reference to Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), consider the following statements:

1. It provides accidental death and disability cover.
2. The minimum age for enrollment is 18 years.
3. The scheme is administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

Which of the statements given above are correct?

a. 1 and 2 only
b. 2 and 3 only
c. 1 and 3 only
d. 1, 2 and 3

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