Guwahati (Assam) [India], January 1 : The Assam government signed MoUs with the State Bank of India (SBI) and Union Bank of India (UBI) to provide insurance benefits to state government employees.
During a state cabinet meeting held in North Lakhimpur, the State Finance Department was authorized to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) to provide zero-premium insurance coverage to all permanent or regular employees of the state government, totaling over four lakh employees.
The Finance Department soon after discussed with all the SCBs to identify the best options for the employees.
As a first step, the Finance Department has signed MoUs with the State Bank of India (SBI) and Union Bank of India (UBI).
Under this arranegment, the state government employees will get benefits at zero cost that includes minimum Rs 10 lakh for Term Life Insurance (coverage for employees in the event of natural death, including death due to illness or accident), minimum Rs 1 crore for accidental death, upto Rs 1 crore for Permanent Total Disability, upto Rs 80 lakh for Permanent Partial Disability, minimum Rs 2 crore for Air Accidental Insurance (coverage for employees in case of death due to an air crash).
Additionally, health insurance will be available at highly affordable rates for those employees who chose to avail the same from these banks.
The Terms and Conditions will, however, be decided by the banks.
Employees can submit an application form to the nearest branch of their current bank or any other empaneled bank where they are maintaining their salary bank accounts. They must also ensure that their accounts are categorized as salary accounts by updating their passbooks at the nearest branch.
The MoUs will be effective forthwith, and a detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SoP) are being issued to ensure smooth roll out of these MoUs and maximum benefits to the employees.
The Treasury Officer of each district headquarters will serve as the Nodal Officer for coordination and grievance redressal, liaising with banks, ensuring smooth implementation of salary benefits, and assisting with claim submissions.
Further, each empaneled Bank will nominate a Nodal Officer. The contact details of such Nodal Officer will be included in the SOP issued by the Finance Department.
A quarterly report on case status and disposal will be submitted to the Finance Department for timely resolution.