Nethanna Bima Scheme (Weavers Group Life Insurance)

What is the Nethanna Bima scheme?

Nethanna Bima is the group life insurance scheme run by the Department of Handlooms and Textiles, Government of Telangana, for the state's weavers. The name is Telugu, nethanna means weaver, and readers also search it as "Nethanna Bhima" or "weavers bima scheme".

Nethanna Bima works on the same principle as the state's Rythu Bima scheme for farmers. The government identifies and enrols eligible weavers, pays the entire insurance premium out of the state budget, and on the death of an enrolled weaver the registered nominee receives Rs 5 lakh directly in the bank account. The weaver pays nothing, sits no medical examination and fills in no annual renewal form.

The problem Nethanna Bima was created to solve is specific and severe. Weaving in Telangana is largely an unorganised-sector occupation carried on at home or in a small shed, and the household's entire income usually depends on one or two people at the loom. When the main weaver in such a household dies, the family loses its income overnight and frequently has no savings and no insurance. A commercial term policy is beyond the reach of most weaving households, both in premium and in the paperwork it demands. Nethanna Bima substitutes the state for the premium payer.

Main features

• Rs 5 lakh paid to the nominee on the death of an enrolled weaver.
• Premium fully borne by the Government of Telangana, no contribution from the weaver.
• No medical examination required to be covered.
• Nominee-based payment, the money goes to the person recorded as nominee at enrolment, straight into that person's bank account.
• Administered through the district Handlooms and Textiles offices and the weavers cooperative society network the department supervises.

The Handlooms and Textiles Department supervises weavers cooperative societies in cotton, silk and wool, apex societies, powerloom societies and garment tailor societies, and it is through this existing society network that weaver enrolment and claim verification are handled on the ground.

Who is eligible for Nethanna Bima?

A weaver is covered if:

• The weaver is a handloom or powerloom weaver in Telangana, working at the loom or in an allied occupation covered by the department's enrolment drive.
• The weaver has been enrolled under Nethanna Bima by the Handlooms and Textiles Department, normally through a weavers cooperative society or the district office.
• The weaver falls within the age band fixed for the enrolment drive, since Nethanna Bima is a group life insurance product and every such product has an entry and exit age.
• A nominee has been recorded at the time of enrolment, with correct name and details.

A person is not eligible, and no claim can be made, if:

• The weaver was never enrolled. This is the decisive point and the most common cause of a failed claim. Insurance cover follows enrolment, not occupation. A person who wove all their life but whose name never entered the Nethanna Bima list is not covered, and the family cannot apply after the death to have the name added retrospectively.
• The weaver was outside the age band fixed for the drive at the time of enrolment.
• The person is not a weaver in the department's records and holds no weaver identity card or cooperative society membership.
• No nominee was recorded, or the recorded nominee cannot be identified, which does not defeat the claim but sends it into a long verification process.

The single most useful thing a weaving household can do is check, while the weaver is alive, that the enrolment exists and that the nominee's name and details in that enrolment match the nominee's Aadhaar and bank account. Every avoidable delay in a Nethanna Bima claim traces back to a mismatch that could have been fixed in ten minutes at the district office.

What documents are needed for a Nethanna Bima claim?

How to apply for Nethanna Bima — enrolment and claim

Nethanna Bima has two distinct actions, and readers often confuse them. Enrolment happens while the weaver is alive and is done by the department. Claim happens after the death and is done by the nominee.

1. Enrol during the department's drive. Approach the weavers cooperative society you belong to, or the Assistant Director of Handlooms and Textiles at the district office, when an enrolment drive is announced, and give the weaver's Aadhaar, weaver identity details, age proof and the nominee's details.
2. Record the nominee correctly. Give the nominee's exact name as it appears on their Aadhaar, along with the relationship and the nominee's bank account details. Collect the acknowledgement of enrolment and keep it with the household's papers.
3. Verify the enrolment once a year. Ask the cooperative society or the district office to confirm that the weaver's name is on the current Nethanna Bima list and that the nominee on record is the person the family intends.
4. On the death of the weaver, obtain the death certificate from the gram panchayat, municipality or registrar of births and deaths. Nothing in the claim can start until this exists.
5. File the claim at the district Handlooms and Textiles office or through the weavers cooperative society, with the death certificate, the nominee's Aadhaar and bank passbook, the deceased weaver's Aadhaar and the weaver identity proof.
6. Complete and sign the claim form given at that office, and take a written acknowledgement with a reference so the claim can be followed up.
7. Track the claim with the Assistant Director of Handlooms and Textiles in your district, quoting that acknowledgement, until the Rs 5 lakh is credited to the nominee's account.

How to check a Nethanna Bima enrolment or claim

Nethanna Bima is administered offline through the district network, so the reliable check is with the Assistant Director of Handlooms and Textiles in your district, or with the weavers cooperative society through which the weaver is enrolled. Ask three specific questions rather than a general one:

• Is the weaver's name on the current Nethanna Bima enrolment list?
• Which nominee is recorded against that enrolment, and with which bank account?
• For a filed claim, has the district office forwarded it, and what is pending?

At state level the department can be reached on 040-23221684 or at tshandtex@gmail.com.

Why Nethanna Bima claims get delayed or rejected

• The weaver was never enrolled. No claim is possible, and this cannot be cured after the death.
• Nominee name mismatch between the enrolment record and the nominee's Aadhaar, different spelling, an initial expanded or a maiden name.
• Bank account not in the nominee's own name, or a dormant, closed or KYC incomplete account, so the transfer fails.
• Death certificate not obtained, or obtained with a name spelling different from the Aadhaar.
• Weaver identity not on record, where the person worked at a loom but was never registered with a cooperative society or the department.
• Incomplete claim form submitted without the full document set, which usually means a second visit to the district office.

Most of these are administrative rather than substantive. A claim held up for a name mismatch is not a rejected claim, it needs a correction and a supporting document, filed through the same district office.

Nethanna Bima and other weaver welfare support

The Handlooms and Textiles Department supervises the weavers cooperative society network across cotton, silk and wool, along with powerloom societies, garment tailor societies and apparel and textile parks. A weaving household enrolling for Nethanna Bima should ask, at the same visit, what other support the department currently operates for weavers, thrift and savings support, yarn and input assistance, and work-shed or loom modernisation help have all featured in the department's weaver welfare portfolio. Doing it in one visit saves a second round of the same paperwork.

Help and grievance redressal for Nethanna Bima

• Department of Handlooms and Textiles, Telangana: 040-23221684
• Email: tshandtex@gmail.com
• District level: Assistant Director of Handlooms and Textiles
• Society level: the weavers cooperative society through which the weaver is enrolled
• State level: Special Chief Secretary and Commissioner, Handlooms and Textiles Department, Government of Telangana

Nethanna Bima costs the weaver nothing. Enrolment is free, the premium is paid by the state government, and the claim settlement carries no fee. Any demand for money to enrol a weaver or to release a claim should be reported to the district Assistant Director of Handlooms and Textiles in writing.