Taking cognizance of Amit Shah, Union Home and Cooperation Minister that GOI will facilitate establishing a life insurance company in the cooperative sector, a group of former Sr Bankers, teachers and economic officers from among Alumni of SCD Govt. College Ludhiana appealed to the centre that rural sector must ultimately benefit from the new insurance firm.
Initiating discussion Brij Bhushan Goyal ,a retired banker said ,” India's cooperative movement began with the Co-operative Credit Societies Act, 1904, to strengthen farmers through mutual support and collective ownership. The proposed Cooperative Life Insurance Company, following the Bharat Taxi Cooperative initiative, represents an important expansion of this model beyond its traditional rural credit framework. Nearly half of India's workforce continues to depend on agriculture, making rural livelihoods highly vulnerable to crop failures, livestock losses, climate shocks and fluctuating farm incomes. The limited acceptance of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in states such as Punjab, coupled with persistent agrarian distress and debt-driven farmer suicides, highlights significant gaps in rural social security which any insurance scheme must cover “.
Goyal further added that, “The cooperative insurer should therefore, evolve into a comprehensive rural risk assurance institution by integrating life, crop, livestock and livelihood protection under one umbrella. Such an approach would reduce financial vulnerability, improve resilience and reinforce farmers' confidence in the cooperative model. Since the cooperative movement was founded to safeguard the economic interests of rural communities, the proposed insurance company should remain true to that legacy”.
K B Singh, A Former DGM and A Sr Economic officer of a bank said that,” The proposed Cooperative Life Insurance Company is a good idea. However, it should be ensured that premium under the scheme is capped so that it becomes affordable to last mile person to be insured. He also echoed suggestions of Goyal that a comprehensive Insurance plan for farming community and other rural workers covering all their risks will be the better option to incentivise cooperative sector with insurance business idea. The issues of PM Fasal Bima Yojna and states' fears are yet to be resolved.”.
Prof. (Dr) Balwinderpal Singh of economics opined that Cooperative Sector Insurance company on the National level should be propagated throughout the country and experts of Cooperative Sector, Agriculture Universities professors/ Managers, Kisan Unions, Economists etc must be consulted before finalising the company. It should not be superimposed like three old proposed three laws of Agriculture. Some comprehensive schemes can be made through different models. India is a vast country and a progressive secure farmer will be a strong asset of our economy. There should be total transparency about the use of money collected by such insurance companies.”
The group will send it’s suggestion to Amit Shah, Union Minister Of Cooperation, said Goyal who is also an organising secretary of the alumni Association of this premier college SCD Govt College, Ludhiana which has groomed many a economics teachers and successful bankers who keep discussing public welfare centric issues, particularly where Punjab’s interests are involved.
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