RANCHI: In a first, Jharkhand’s rural development department is conducting a door-to-door survey in villages to identify people who died of Covid so that families which lost their bread earners could be provided immediate relief. Officials said as many as 3,750 people who died of the disease over the past year have already been identified.
The women in self-help groups under the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) are also helping the bereaved families to settle insurance claims and in getting their dues. “The families which have lost their loved ones in the last one year due to Covid-19 in rural areas are being identified by SHG members so that they could be connected through different livelihood schemes of the state government,” said JSLPS CEO Aditya Ranjan.
The SHG women are collecting data of the deceased persons and helping their families to settle insurance claims in their name, he added. “The bread earner’s death affects the family’s survival. So, we have launched a survey to identify those who have died after April 1 so that necessary paperwork could be completed in banks for dependents under the PMJJBY. We are trying to settle claims with the help of Banking Sakhi SHG members,” said the CEO.
The Banking Correspondent Sakhi (BC Sakhi), who will help them to settle their claims, will get Rs 1,000 for each case, he added. More than 20 lakh people were covered under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) during the last one year after the pandemic’s outbreak last year.
According to JSLPS officials, PMJJBY proved to be a boon for SHG members and their family members. Chameli Devi is an example of it. “In Ratanpur village in Dumka, Naresh Kumar Gupta, who was the only bread earner of the family, died in April leaving the family on the verge of starvation. But, the SHG members came forward and helped his wife to settle insurance claims of her husband. She received Rs 2 lakh which helped the family a lot in the time of crisis,” said a JSLPS official.