UP government plans life, medical, accidental death insurance for migrant workers

Lucknow: The UP government is working on providing life, medical and accidental death insurance cover to migrant workers, in line with the objective of the Migrant Commission of providing social security cover to workers under the unorganised sector, after the state witnessed the return of more than 3.5 million migrants amid the lockdown.
The state is holding discussions with insurance companies to explore whether premium requirements under the existing PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and the PM Suraksha Bima Yojana can be reworked to cover nearly 40 million workers in the unorganised sector, including street vendors and rickshaw pullers, said a senior government official in the labour department. For medical insurance, the Ayushman Bharat Yojana may be extended in a planned way to those not already covered under it, said the official.

The state is considering a cover of ₹5 lakh, which will be paid to a worker's kin in case of his death during an accident, and will carry out the registration of the workers being targeted once chief minister Yogi Adityanath gives the go-ahead. The CM is helming the Uttar Pradesh Labour (Employment Exchange and Job) Commission, which was formed in June with an objective to find gainful employment and provide social security to the migrants after the lockdown revealed their plight.

The planned social security measures will be different from the schemes under the Building and other Construction Workers (BOCW) Act. UP currently has 16 schemes under the BOCW ACT, including medical insurance and pension in case of death or disability. About two million are registered with the body that seeks to protect the interests of construction workers.