Jammu, August 28: Forget about smart cities for the time being as it is yet to be decided by the Jammu and Kashmir Government and will be realized as our government comes out of the confusion of warring regions of the state and let us focus on other brilliant ideas of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi who never fails to surprise Indians with his practical and innovative schemes.
The latest to come from the Prime Ministers treasure of ideas is the Suraksha Bandhan scheme to coincide with the Raksha Bandhan festival thus not only bringing more revenue to banks but also giving an opportunity to common masses to insure their loved ones on lowest premiums and teaching the nation how to save for the development.
The government needs a pat for such an innovative scheme on this festival which serves several purposes as it adds to the revenue generation, offers insurance and also makes a new way of presenting gifts to sisters which is not only beneficial but also practical.
As citizens it is our duty to make this scheme a success by adopting the scheme and presenting such gift cheques to our loved ones particularly our sisters on this Rakhi festival so that we can also contribute towards nation building and implement the vision of our innovative Prime Minister.
The scheme which offers social security might seem irrelevant to the affluent section but it definitely is of huge benefit to the deprived section which needs such measures to come out of the mess of poverty, and lack of finances to help them enjoy the benefits of government schemes at par with other sections of the society.
The government has launched a special “Suraksha Bandhan” enrolment drive for its social security schemes through innovative plans like gift cheques and special deposits coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan festival for which a special enrolment drive was launched by participating banks and insurance companies in the backdrop of the forthcoming festival of Raksha Bandhan.
The drive was aimed to reach out to the pool of eligible bank account holders who are yet to be enrolled under these schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) for accident and disability cover of up to Rs.2 lakh at an annual premium of Rs.12 and the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) for a term life cover of Rs.2 lakh at an annual premium of Rs.330.
The envisaged social security initiative also includes the Atal Pension Yojana (APY), launched along with the above two insurance schemes, which addresses the issue of old age income security by facilitating regular contributions during the working life of the subscriber for a guaranteed pension at the age of 60, with certain government contribution for eligible subscribers who enroll by December 31, 2015.
The Suraksha Bandhan drive seeks to encourage people to gift social security plans to their near ones. It will be supported through the Jeevan Suraksha gift cheques to be made available for Rs.351 in bank branches to facilitate one year payment of premium for PMJJBY and PMSBY by the recipient.
The recipient of the gift cheque would deposit the instrument in the bank account for a realisable value of Rs.342 (Rs.12 + Rs.330) to cover one-year subscription to the schemes. The balance of Rs.9 would be retained by the issuing bank as a service charge.
Banks will also provide a facility to account holders under the Suraksha Deposit Scheme and the Jeevan Suraksha Deposit Scheme aimed at enabling them to deposit Rs.201 or Rs.5001, respectively in their accounts either on their own initiative, or based on cash or cheques received as gifts on Raksha Bandhan for subscription to the schemes.
With such innovative schemes in place and an equally stable government willing to change the nation it is our duty as citizens of this country to contribute our bit towards its development by participating actively in such schemes either personally or encouraging other people to participate.
We can also use these gift cheques and other insurance schemes to help our domestic helps and such people who are dependent on us to make this country a truly smart country instead of waiting someone else to wave his magic wand and turn our cities into smart cities.
A small step counts and we can make one today itself. Happy Raksha Bandhan