13-Oct-2017: Government launches Sampoorna Bima Gram Yojana.

Government has launched the Sampoorna Bima Gram (SBG) Yojana and an initiative for expansion of clientele base of Postal Life Insurance.  Providing banking services through the postal network needs to be taken forward to provide affordable life insurance services to people living in rural areas of the country. Villages under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana will be brought under its ambit.

Under Sampoorna Bima Gram (SBG) Yojana, at least one village (having a minimum of 100 households) will be identified in each of the revenue districts of the country, wherein endeavour will be made to cover all households of that identified village with a minimum of one RPLI (Rural Postal Life Insurance) policy each.  Coverage of all households in the identified Sampoorna Bima Gram village is the primary objective of this scheme.

Under the scheme expansion of clientele base of PLI, it has now been decided that benefits of PLI will no more be confined to Government and semi-Government employees, but will also be available to professionals such as Doctors, Engineers, Management Consultants, Charted Accountants, Architects, Lawyers, Bankers etc. and to employees of listed companies of NSE (National Stock Exchange) and BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange).  The decision has been taken to enlarge the cover of social security and bring maximum number of people under the protection of Postal Life Insurance (PLI). He said that the postal policies have low premium and high bonus, unlike the Private ones.

The Government is committed to the cause of complete wellbeing of citizens of this country.  Expansion of clientele base of Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and ensuring coverage of Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) to all households of Sampoorna Bima Gram villages in each district of the country is a step in that direction. These two major initiatives being undertaken by Department of Posts will serve as an instrument of securing lives of people as well as enhancing financial inclusion.

Postal Life Insurance (PLI), introduced in 1884, is one of the oldest life insurance schemes for benefit of Government and semi-Government employees.  Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI), introduced on March 24, 1995 on recommendations of Malhotra Committee, provides insurance cover to people residing in rural areas, especially weaker sections and women living in rural areas. Low Premium and High Bonus is the unique feature of PLI and RPLI schemes.  As on March 31, 2017, there were 46.8 lakh PLI and 146.8 lakh RPLI policies across the country. 

The insurance industry in India has undergone transformational changes after liberalisation of the insurance sector in the year 2000, subsequent to setting up of the insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).  In such a competitive scenario, it is felt that there is an urgent need for Postal Life Insurance (PLI) / Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) to redefine itself.

4-May-2017: eVIN Project of Health Ministry becomes global best practice in immunisation

Representatives from Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand are on a visit to India to study the global best practice of eVIN (electronic vaccine intelligence network) project of the Health Ministry and to understand how it is being implemented in the country and the ways in which it be replicated in their own countries.

The Ministry is ready to provide support and collaborate with other countries to strengthen their capacities and scale up their programs. This is a big boost for the Digital India and Make in India initiatives of the Government. This sets a benchmark in the field of immunisation. The delegation shared the experience from their countries of the immunisation projects, and expressed the shared view that the India visit shall enrich them to strengthen their own country programs.

While the country is working towards enhancing the coverage of immunisation, quality of vaccines through maintenance of the right temperature is also a critical component to for the quality and efficacy of the vaccines. eVIN is a step towards ensuring that.

eVIN (Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network) is an indigenously developed technology system in India that digitizes vaccine stocks and monitors the temperature of the cold chain through a smartphone application. The innovative eVIN is presently being implemented called across twelve states in India. eVIN aims to support the Government of India’s Universal Immunization Programme by providing real-time information on vaccine stocks and flows, and storage temperatures across all cold chain points in these states. The technological innovation is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

eVIN aims to strengthen the evidence base for improved policy-making in vaccine delivery, procurement and planning for new antigens in India. eVIN provides an integrated solution to address widespread inequities in vaccine coverage by supporting state governments in overcoming constraints of infrastructure, monitoring and management information systems and human resources, often resulting in overstocking and stock-outs of vaccines in storage centres.

The integrated solution combines:

Technology: to facilitate evidence-based decision-making by making available online real-time information on vaccine stocks and storage temperature through the eVIN application software and temperature loggers;

Governance: to ensure efficient vaccine logistics management by systemizing record keeping through standardizing stock and distribution registers; identifying gaps and improving clarity on vaccine cold chain network; drawing attention to infrastructure upgrades; developing standard operating procedures; and encouraging good practices;

Human Resources: to empower the state cold chain network by building the capacities of government cold chain handlers; and deploying vaccine and cold chain managers in every district for constant support to estimate vaccine requirements, supervise cold chain handlers and coordinate with cold chain technicians across the district.

eVIN empowers the cold chain handlers by building technical capacities and providing a robust decision-making tool for cold chain managers through a complete overview of vaccine replenishment times, supply and consumption patterns.

By streamlining the vaccine flow network, eVIN is a powerful contribution to strengthening health systems and ensures equity through easy and timely availability of vaccines to all children.