Lok Sabha Question No. 2822 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-11
Subject: Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Sambhajirao Mane Dhairyasheel, Hemant Patil, Unmesh Bhaiyyasaheb Patil, Sujay Radhakrishna Vikhepatil, Shrikant Eknath Shinde

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.2822 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.03.2020

## PRAVASI BHARATIYA BIMA YOJANA

## 2822 SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE: SHRI HEMANT SRIRAM PATIL: SHRI UNMESH BHAIYYASAHEB PATIL: DR.SUJAY RADHAKRISHNA VIKHE PATIL: DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of emigrants covered under Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY), country-wise, since inception of this Scheme;
- (b) the details of the claims settled till date under PBBY since then country wise and the details  including the reasons behind the pendency, if any;
- (c) the details of professions under Section 2 (O) of Emigration Act to which claimants belong; and
- (d) the total amount paid by emigrants as premium and amount of money, so far,   settled   as   claims,   country-wise,   with   particular   reference   to Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan, and Iraq ?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS [SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN]

(a) to (d) The Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY) is a mandatory insurance scheme for all Emigration Check Required (ECR) category workers going to ECR countries. The scheme provides an insurance cover of  ₹10 Lakhs in case of accidental   death   or   permanent   disability   and   other   benefits   at   a   nominal insurance premium of ₹275/- for two years or ₹375/- for three years validity. The Scheme, initially launched in 2003, has been amended in 2006, 2008 and 2017 with the overarching objective of expanding the benefits for emigrant workers.

The revised scheme PBBY, 2017, operational w.e.f. August 1, 2017, has made settlement of claims simpler for the benefit of our workers and is aimed at ensuring expeditious settlement of claims. It now provides for:

- (i) Global coverage irrespective of change of employer, employee's location and place of work,
- (ii) Acceptance   by   insurance   companies   of   certification   of   accidental death/permanent disability by Indian missions/posts abroad, and
- (iii) Facility for online renewal and copy of insurance policy is to be made available to the nominee(s).

The Government promptly takes up the matter with the concerned insurance companies whenever any representation regarding settlement of claims is received.

The claimants under the scheme belong to various professions as defined under section 2(o) of Emigration Act, which are as follows:

- (i). any unskilled work, including any form of industrial or agricultural labour;
- (ii). any domestic service;
- (iii). any service, not being a service in a managerial capacity, in any hotel, restaurant, tea-house or other place of public resort;
- (iv). work as a driver of a truck or other vehicle, mechanic, technician or skilled labourer or artisan;
- (v). work as an office assistant or accountant or typist or stenographer or salesman, or nurse or operator of any machine;
- (vi). work in connection with, or for the purposes of, any cinema, exhibition or entertainment;

Since the launch of e-migrate portal in 2014, the Government has been issuing online Emigration Clearance (EC). The country wise data from 2014 to February 2020 is placed at Annexure-I.

As per information received from insurance companies, premium of  ₹ 9,211.8 lakhs have been paid by the emigrants and 877 claims of  ₹ 6,920.34 lakhs have been settled from 1.4.2014 till 31.1.2020. The details are placed at Annexure-II.     Insurance   companies   have   informed   that   they   only   maintain consolidated figures of settlement of claims, but not the country wise details.

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## ANNEXURE I

## COUNTRY-WISE EMIGRANTS DATA TO ECR COUNTRIES COVERED UNDER PBBY

| S.No .   | Name of Country   | 2014      | 2015      | 2016      | 2017      | 2018      | 2019      | 2020 (up to Feb )   |
|----------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|---------------------|
| 1.       | Afghanistan       | 127       | 70        | 0         | 0         | 0         | 2         | 0                   |
| 2        | Bahrain           | 14207     | 15,623    | 11964     | 11516     | 9142      | 9997      | 1664                |
| 3        | Indonesia         | 29        | 6         | 1         | 10        | 10        | 0         | 0                   |
| 4        | Iraq              | 3054      | 1         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 162       | 164                 |
| 5        | Jordan            | 2133      | 2047      | 2742      | 2341      | 1941      | 3941      | 208                 |
| 6        | Kuwait            | 80420     | 66579     | 72384     | 56380     | 57613     | 45712     | 6872                |
| 7        | Lebanon           | 313       | 341       | 316       | 110       | 109       | 160       | 4                   |
| 8        | Libya             | 122       | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0                   |
| 9        | Malaysia          | 22927     | 20908     | 10604     | 14002     | 16370     | 10633     | 1913                |
| 10       | Oman              | 51319     | 85054     | 63236     | 53332     | 36037     | 28392     | 3690                |
| 11       | Qatar             | 75997     | 59384     | 30619     | 24759     | 34471     | 31810     | 5174                |
| 12       | Saudi Arabia      | 330002    | 308380    | 165355    | 78611     | 72399     | 161103    | 29252               |
| 13       | Sudan             | 255       | 29        | 0         | 1         | 0         | 0         | 0                   |
| 14.      | Syria             | 0         |           | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0                   |
| 15       | Thailand          | 53        | 10        | 1         | 0         | 6         | 24        | 10                  |
| 16       | UAE               | 224043    | 225718    | 163716    | 149962    | 112059    | 76112     | 12060               |
| 17       | Yemen             | 4         | 8         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0                   |
| 18       | South Sudan       | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0                   |
|          | Grand Total       | 8,05,00 5 | 7,84,15 2 | 5,20,93 8 | 3,91,02 4 | 3,40,15 7 | 3,68,04 8 | 6101 1              |

Source:  eMigrate

## ANNXURE - II

## FINANCIAL YEAR-WISE DETAILS OF PREMIUM PAID, NUMBER AND AMOUNT OF CLAIMS SETTLED

|   S.No. | Details required                      | 2014- 2015      |   2015- 2016 |   2016- 2017 | 2017- 2018   | 2018- 2019   |   2019- 2020 (up to Jan 2020) | Total   |
|---------|---------------------------------------|-----------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|-------------------------------|---------|
|       1 | Premium collected for PBBY (in Lakhs) | 2572.11 2164.38 |      1400.22 |      1110.97 | 1027.16      | 936.96       |                       9211.8  |         |
|       2 | Number of 336                         | 221             |       109    |        89    | 81           |              |                         41    | 877     |
|       3 | Amount of 2055.08                     | 1873.64         |      1048.86 |       816    |              | 754.69       |                        372.07 | 6920.34 |

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