Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana (MGBBY), Odisha

What is Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana?

Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana (MGBBY) is the handloom weavers' insurance scheme whose implementation guideline the Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Department of Odisha publishes on its own schemes page, listed there as the Mahatma Gandhi Weaver Insurance Scheme. The scheme is administered by the Life Insurance Corporation of India, with the state handloom authority acting as nodal agency.

According to that guideline, the Government of India introduced the Bunkar Bima Yojana in December 2003, combining the Janshree Bima Yojana with an add-on group insurance scheme run with LIC. The scheme was revised from 2005-06 and re-titled Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana. The document published by Odisha covers implementation during the XI Five Year Plan, 2007-08 to 2011-12, with benefits effective from 1 October 2007.

The stated objective of Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana is to provide enhanced insurance cover to handloom weavers in cases of natural as well as accidental death, and in cases of total or partial disability.

An important honesty note before the detail: central weaver welfare architecture has been restructured several times since the XI Plan, and the document Odisha publishes is the XI Plan version. Every figure below is quoted from that official document. Weavers should confirm the currently applicable premium and sum assured with the Directorate of Textiles and Handloom before paying anything.

Who is eligible for Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana?

You can be covered if:

• You earn at least 50% of your income from handloom weaving.
• You are between 18 and 59 years of age. The guideline covers all weavers in this band, male or female, and specifically includes weavers from minorities, women weavers and weavers of the North Eastern Region.
• You belong to a State Handloom Development Corporation, an Apex Handloom Weavers' Cooperative Society, or a Primary Handloom Weavers' Cooperative Society.
• You are outside the cooperative fold but can obtain a certificate from the State Directorate of Handlooms confirming you meet the eligibility conditions.

You cannot apply / are not eligible if:

• You are below 18 or above 59 years of age.
• You earn less than 50% of your income from handloom weaving.
• You do not pay the weaver's share of the premium. Cover is ordinarily effective only after receipt of the entire premium, and non-payment at the annual renewal date makes the cover cease automatically.
• You are looking for cover without any weaver credential at all: either society membership or a certificate from the State Directorate is required.

Verifying eligibility is not left to the weaver. The guideline places the responsibility for verifying the eligibility of weavers proposed to be covered squarely on the State Director in-charge of Handlooms.

How much does Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana pay?

Premium sharing. The annual premium is Rs 330 per member, split three ways:

• Government of India contribution, Rs 150
• Weaver's contribution; Rs 80
• LIC's contribution, Rs 100

The premium is paid one time for the whole year, directly to LIC, and once paid it is not refunded. Where the Government's share is not ready, the guideline allows LIC to accept the beneficiary's share and effect the cover accordingly.

What is the Siksha Sahayog scholarship under MGBBY?

Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana carries an additional benefit for the children of covered weavers, delivered under Siksha Sahayog Yojana:

• A scholarship of Rs 600 per six months per child for students in standards IX to XII.
• Payable for a maximum of four years, or until the child completes standard XII, whichever comes first, for the academic year June to May.
• Restricted to two children of the covered member, with both children covered irrespective of gender.
• No premium is charged for this benefit, either to the parent or to the nodal agency.
• A student who fails and is detained in the same standard is not eligible for the scholarship for the next year in the same standard.
• If the MGBBY premium is not paid on the annual renewal date, the child ceases to be eligible for the scholarship.

Because the number of scholarships is limited, the guideline says final selection is based on the criteria of poorest of the poor, without gender discrimination, with a state's target beneficiary students divided among covered members in proportion to the lives covered in that state. Once a person is admitted as an MGBBY member, further proof of income is not necessary at the time of selecting a scholarship beneficiary.

How to apply for Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana

1. Confirm your weaver credential. Either be a member of a State Handloom Development Corporation, Apex or Primary Handloom Weavers' Cooperative Society, or obtain a certificate from the State Directorate of Handlooms that you meet the eligibility conditions.
2. Collect the application-cum-nomination form from the nodal agency. LIC supplies these forms to nodal agencies, so ask at the office of the State Director in-charge of Handlooms and Textiles or one of its field offices.
3. Fill and submit the form to the nodal agency along with your share of the premium. No medical certificate is required — self-certification suffices. Name your nominee carefully, since the nominee is who LIC pays.
4. Wait for scrutiny. The nodal agency scrutinises the application and, if found eligible, accepts the premium and forwards the list of such beneficiaries along with the premium to LIC.
5. Collect your card or certificate. On receiving the premium and the beneficiary list, LIC issues cards or certificates to all covered weavers. The card carries the month and date of renewal and is issued in the vernacular language so weavers can claim their dues from LIC.
6. Renew every year before the due date shown on the card. The scheme is renewable annually and continuation of cover depends on paying the premium by the renewal date.

There is no online application route in the published guideline. MGBBY runs through the nodal agency, which acts for and on behalf of insured members in all matters relating to the insurance cover.

How do you make an MGBBY claim?

1. In case of death or disability, the nominee or beneficiary submits the claim to LIC through the nodal agency.
2. Attach the documentary evidence that applies, death certificate, post-mortem examination report, medical certificate, discharge certificate and other related documents. For an accidental claim, a police inquiry report is also required.
3. The nodal agency must forward the claim to LIC within 15 days of receiving it.
4. LIC must settle the claim within one month from the date it receives the claim, paying the beneficiary or nominee directly by account payee cheque under intimation to the nodal agency, or through the nodal agency.

For a death claim, the original death certificate goes to the nodal agency, which forwards it with the claim papers to the LIC branch that originally finalised the insurance cover. Intimation of settlement has to be furnished to the State Government concerned and to the Office of the Development Commissioner for Handlooms.

What happens if a weaver changes employer or lapses?

Two situations are dealt with explicitly in the guideline:

• Changing employment during the insurance period. A weaver moving from one society or corporation to another must furnish intimation to the nodal agency.
• Non-payment of the next year's premium. The insurance cover ceases automatically. The weaver is free to rejoin the scheme in any subsequent year on payment of the required premium, but the intervening period is not covered.

Who monitors Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana?

Monitoring and evaluation of the scheme is done by the State Governments, which submit quarterly physical and financial progress reports to the Development Commissioner for Handlooms. Nodal agencies submit periodical reports on coverage and claim settlement. LIC holds a monthly review meeting in the second week of each month with the State Director or Commissioner in-charge of Handlooms and the district-level Assistant Director, Handlooms, bringing claims figures for that state.

State Governments and the State Handloom Corporations, Apex and Primary Handloom Weavers' Cooperative Societies, Unions and Associations are expected to be actively associated in implementation by sensitising weavers to join the scheme through print and other media.

Help and grievance redressal

• Directorate of Textiles and Handloom, Odisha. The department's published helpdesk number is 0674-2575783, and its published email addresses are hthdepartment@gmail.com and textile.handloom@gmail.com. This is the nodal agency for enrolment, eligibility certification and claim forwarding.
• Your Primary or Apex Handloom Weavers' Cooperative Society, which is the first point of contact for cooperative-sector weavers.
• Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Department, Odisha, which publishes the MGBBY guideline on its schemes page at handloom.odisha.gov.in.
• LIC P&GS Unit handling the policy, for claim status once the nodal agency has forwarded the papers.

Before paying any premium, ask the Directorate to confirm the currently applicable cover and premium in writing. The document published by the state is the XI Plan guideline, and no weaver should pay a middleman for enrolment.