Overseas Indian workers can now opt to join life insurance scheme

The Indian Government has launched a voluntary pension and life insurance scheme that would benefit over five million unskilled and semi-skilled workers employed overseas mostly in Gulf countries on temporary contract visas.

According to The Economic Times, citing Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi, the Government has created a special fund called Pension and Life Insurance Fund which will be used to contribute in part to pension and insurance cover for the low-paid workers. He launched the scheme last Saturday.

Under the scheme, the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs will provide an annual co-contribution of up to INR 3,000 (US$ 57) for female workers and INR 2,000 for male Indians working overseas. Workers will be required to contribute to their pension and insurance cover as well.

Ravi says that only those workers who have proper immigration clearance before going abroad would be covered under the scheme.

The scheme provides an opportunity to such low-paid workers to accumulate savings for resettlement when they return to India. It also provides life insurance cover for a specified period.