Poll cover is big business

Elections are big business for insurance companies. In the biggest electoral exercise in the largest democracy in the world, the new private insurance companies and the state-owned companies are vying with each other to bag mandates from state governments to provide insurance cover to hundreds of thousands of employees who have been pressed into election duty.

The central para-military forces, the state police as well as government servants posted on election duty are covered for a period ranging from a few days to a month against the loss of life to the tune of Rs 5-10 lakh per employee.

Figures on just how big the new business is are hard to come by because insurance companies are reluctant to speak about their clients. Also, the total premium paid varies from state to state""some safe states like Goa don't even take out insurance policies for their employees on poll duty, but others do.

A large state in the cow belt, for instance, recently coughed up Rs 1 crore to a private insurance company by way of a one-time insurance premium to cover those on election duty, according to executives of the insurance company which does not wish to be identified. One senior executive at a private insurance company says,

"It's difficult to estimate the size of the business. But the premium should be around Rs 15 crore. The sum assured will run into hundreds of crore."

The cost of insurance cover varies from state to state, depending on the number of people covered and the past record of losses and the intensity of disruption or violence. So a state government may have to ante up anywhere between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore.

This is the first election after the insurance industry is opened to private companies that the private sector is getting an opportunity to insure those on election duty. In the earlier elections, only the agents of candidates were insured.

While the contestants are not given any insurance cover, political parties do insure their election agents. This gives the agents the comfort to move about in a constituency from booth to booth and the counting centres to supervise the election exercise on behalf of candidates.

The private insurance companies, on an average, have covered state government employees (including teachers and lecturers of government-aided schools and colleges) on election duty for a sum assured of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per head.

Safe move

• The central para-military forces, the state police as well as government servants posted on election duty are covered against the loss of life to the tune of Rs 5-10 lakh per employee.
• The cost of insurance cover varies from state to state, depending on the number of people covered, the past record of losses and the intensity of disruption or violence.