LIC' scheme for girl child in Andhra soon

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is in discussions with the Andhra Pradesh government to launch a girl child protection scheme similar to 'Bhagyalakshmi', which is being implemented in Karnataka.

S Vishwanadhan, zonal manager, LIC, who supervises the operations of the South Central zone covering Andhra and Karnataka, said a positive news in this regard was expected in a couple of months.

About 1.05 lakh girls are covered under the scheme in Karnataka where the government has given a single premium of Rs 10,000 for each of them totalling Rs 121 crore to the LIC.

This social security cover provides scholarships at the rate of Rs 1,000 a year to these girl students up to 10th standard besides health insurance of up to Rs 25,000.

Though Karnataka was ahead in launching such a scheme, Andhra's performance in the implementation of nationally launched social security schemes like Janapriya Bima Yojana, which is targeted to cover over 40 occupational groups that hover around the below poverty line (BPL), was better, he said.

About 1.4 million people in 2006-07 and over 1.1 million people this year have been covered under the scheme in Andhra while this number stood at 2.35 lakh and 1.59 lakh respectively in Karnataka during the same period.

"This is because of the self-help group movement spread across Andhra. Information about the schemes spreads much faster through them as well," Vishwanadhan said.