A comprehensive insurance scheme launched to provide a safety net to millions of Indian blue-collar workers living in the UAE has been expanded.
The group Life Protection Insurance plan – introduced by the Consulate of India last year – has won the support of two more companies, Dubai National Insurance and Nexus Insurance Brokers.
The coverage provides life insurance, disability benefits and repatriation services. The Indian Consulate urged companies with large numbers of blue collar workers to look at insurance options that would benefit labourers in case of natural death or disability in the UAE and overseas when they were not at their work place.
The insurance product can be purchased by businesses in the UAE on behalf of their employees.
Crucial assistance
Satish Kumar Sivan, Consul General of India in Dubai, said it was vital to provide support to families when their sole earning relative died overseas.
“This gives very critical support to families of laborers who unfortunately pass away in cases of natural death,” he said. “It covers deaths which happen not just in UAE, not just while they are at work, but also wherever they are in the world. It also covers partial and full disabilities, covers repatriation of mortal remains, which is a very critical element for families for a nominal fee.
“That's important as the family is suffering, the bread winner has gone, so that’s a huge category of people that are not covered."
All full-time Indian employees registered to work by authorities in the UAE are eligible for support. A minimum of 10 workers is required for the group coverage.
Indian citizens aged 18 to 69 can be covered, with the insurance plan running for 12 months.
The insurance covers death by any cause and permanent disability (up to a sum of Dh35,000) and repatriation costs following a death, up to Dh12,000 for a nominal annual sum of Dh32.
Why insurance protection is key
The Indian Consulate established the dedicated insurance plan to help plug gaps in access to support for its citizens.
It was found that while companies insured their employees who were covered under health and workmen’s compensation for work-related injuries and deaths, there was no mandatory insurance coverage for natural death, so families did not receive compensation.
The consulate last year helped to link companies with insurance firms such as Gargash Insurance Services and Orient Insurance for similar packages that covered both natural and accidental death in the UAE and worldwide.
About 7,000 workers have been signed up for the group insurance plan over the past year – the small numbers reflect the need for more firms to sign on. Additional companies brought on board this year provide employers with more options and benefits labourers, the consulate said.
“We encourage employers to look at this proposal with a positive outlook because it is going to benefit your own workers who are not covered by life insurance because the idea is to reach that labour community not covered for deaths arising out of natural causes,” Mr Sivan said.
“The consulate's interest is to benefit the labour class, we bring together two critical components that are necessary for the welfare of labour, which is the insurance company and employees."
Anthony Cerchiai, head of general insurance at Nexus Insurance Brokers, spoke of the social responsibility to protect the blue collar workers.
“We wanted to do something for the protection of the people who are always hard at work and prepare a programme at a very affordable premium,” he said. “We will promote this product in each workers' camp in the UAE.”
Dubai National Insurance said the plan primarily targetted Indian blue-collar workers but they were open to firms signing on workers from other nationalities.
Spot cyber scams
The insurance scheme is the latest move in support of a historic friendship between India and the UAE.
More than 4.3 million Indians call the UAE home, making up the largest expatriate contingent in the UAE. They serve not only as the backbone of the country's workforce but as a driver of economic growth, with a number of prominent Indian business people setting up companies in the country and continuing to invest heavily in its development.
Indian blue collar workers make up about 65 per cent of the Indian population and are one of the largest group of migrant workers in the Emirates.
A second initiative launched for labourers on Wednesday was an eight-week digital literacy progamme aiming to reach about 5,000 workers in the first year. The consulate has partnered with the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre to teach labourers how to protect themselves from cyber fraud.
“We want to skill our laborers … give them a bit of spur to use technology to protect themselves,” Mr Sivan said. “It is important for us to ensure that our friends and brothers in this community are thoroughly equipped to face the challenges of the modern world.”
Digital education
Workers are often been duped into transferring money to scamsters who promise them jobs in the UAE, UK and US. The programme aims to help workers to spot scams.
KMCC officials said the digital education would run in English, Hindi and regional Indian languages.
“We want to help prevent them getting caught in scams,” said Umer Abdussalam, chief executive Edapt that will run the programme. “We will enhance their knowledge and skills to help them spot fraud. AI is getting better and they may not be familiar with it so we can introduce them to tools so they better understand.”
