Govt to track BPL insurance beneficiaries with mobile numbers

Taking a cue from the success of the mother and child tracking programme of the National Rural Health Mission, the health department is planning to track the beneficiaries of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana — a cashless health insurance scheme for the poor – through their mobile numbers.

Under NRHM, the state department has prepared a database of mothers and children covered under Janani Suraksha Yojana.

The database helps the department in verification of JSY beneficiaries and in tracking and sending them SMS alerts about various schemes and due dates.

The same process is being adopted by the department to verify the list of BPL families enrolled as beneficiaries of RSBY as well as to send them information regarding the scheme from time to time.

The department has also involved the Health Education Officer at the block level and Asha bahus and Pradhans at the village level to create awareness about the scheme.

“We are planning to create our own database of RSBY beneficiaries with their contact details and mobile numbers so that they can be traced and informed about various benefits of RSBY,” said Dr Awadhesh Kumar, nodal officer, RSBY Uttar Pradesh.

“One of the major problems in the RSBY scheme is to reach out to the beneficiaries. Using mobile technology to address the problem is a good idea and Uttar Pradesh is the first state in the country to take such an initiative,” said Anil Swarup, Director General Labour Welfare, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, who was in Lucknow to review the progress of the scheme last week.

The process of making fresh insurance cards, which generally starts in April each year, has also been delayed by the department by a month this year for preparation of the database as well as completion of verification process. The card-making will begin from May 1 this year.

“Because of false verification of the beneficiary list, a number of cards were issued on fake names last time,” said a medical officer.

“Now, the verification work is being given to the health education officers as well as Asha bahus and the verification process is to be completed by the end of this month,” he said.

At the time of verification, the health workers are also asked to note down the contact number of the beneficiary as well as the hamlet and village in which he or she lives.

The ones whose mobile numbers could not be traced during verification will have to provide mobile numbers when the fresh insurance cards are issued to them, he added.

SURBHI KHYATI : http://www.indianexpress.com/news/govt-to-track-bpl-insurance-beneficiaries-with-mobile-numbers/934397/0