UP govt approves CM micro-entrepreneur accident insurance scheme

To provide relief to small and micro entrepreneurs and boost the MSME sector in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government on Wednesday approved the ‘Chief Minister’s Micro Entrepreneur Accident Insurance Scheme’.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Adityanath. “The scheme will facilitate provision of financial assistance to micro entrepreneurs in unavoidable circumstances. For example, in case of death or disability of a micro entrepreneur, claims of up to Rs 5 lakh can be made under the scheme,” UP Finance Minister Suresh Khanna told reporters. On partial disability, the relief amount will be given according to the percentage of disability as mentioned in the disability certificate issued by the Chief Medical Officer, Khanna added.

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“Under the scheme, micro category entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 60 years can apply to avail its benefits. Micro entrepreneurs, who are not eligible for the Traders Accident Insurance Scheme run by the GST Department, can immensely benefit from the scheme,” the minister said. Only about 15 per cent of the total MSME units established in the state are formally registered on the Udyami Registration Portal and 85 per cent of the units are working informally, officials said. “Since registration on Udyam Portal is not mandatory, the data of these units are not formally available. Besides, due to non-availability of formal data, the economic contribution of this sector is not reflected in reality, while policy formulation also faces difficulty. For all these reasons, the state government has decided to launch the scheme,” they said.

Under the scheme, in case of an accident, a copy of all the forms will be submitted to the Deputy Commissioner (Industries) of the concerned district after the victim’s family has applied for it through the online system. In the event of an accident of a registered micro-entrepreneur, after receiving the recommendation of the claim amount from the Deputy Commissioner Industries, the insurance amount will be made available through DBT within a maximum of one month to the nominated heir of the entrepreneur from the directorate level, as per the prescribed procedure.