I Introduction

The Kerala Coir Workers Welfare Fund Board in association with CHIAK (Comprehensive Health Insurance Agency of Kerala) under Labour and their family Rehabilitation Department is implementing a comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme for protecting the health of all coir workers.

II The Scheme

(1) begins its coverage from 1.4.2010 Intends to provide medical treatment free of cost in selected Government, ESI, Co-Operative, private hospitals for a maximum amount of Rs. 30,000/-per anum for a maximum of 5 members in a family

(2) In the event of accidental death of the family guardian, an amount of Rs. 50,000/- (Rupees Fifty thousand Only) will be paid to the spouse / legal heirs.

(3) There is no age limit to enroll in the scheme. Coir workers suffering from any disease can also enroll in the scheme.

(4) Service of selected 165 Government, ESI, Co-Operative, Private hospitals can be availed under the scheme

(5) To and fro Traveling expenditure for treatment limited to maximum of Rs.100/- (Rupees One Hundred Only) will be given from the hospital at a time subject to a maximum of Rs. 1000/-(Rupees One Thousand Only) per num.

(6) After enrolment in the scheme a unique identity card viz ‘smart card' will be issued to the member of the scheme (coir worker) after imprinting their finger prints & photo on the card. This card shall be utilized for the cashless treatment at the hospitals.

(7) The premia on behalf of the beneficiaries will be paid by the Government of Kerala. A petty amount of Rs. 30/- only for a family need be paid by a coir worker for getting registration and smart card.

(8) A maximum of 5 members of a family are eligible for enrolment.

(9) Kerala Coir Workers Welfare Fund Board is an intervening as a nodal agency in this scheme.

Source of finance

  75% of the expenditure will be borne by Government of India under ‘Rashtriya Swastya Beema Yochana' (RSBY) and balance 25% along with administrative expenditure be provided by Government of Kerala.

This is an annual premia scheme which has to be renewed during march every year for extending the coverage to the next financial year.

Procedure for enrolment

All member coir workers should submit photocopies of pages 1 & 2 of their ration card and that of the pass book and pensioners should submit photocopies of Pension card and 1&2 pages of their ration card to the concerned Regional / District / Sub Offices of th Board on or before 31.3.2010.

Kerala Coir Workers Welfare Fund Board is taking a bold step in implementing the above project which aims to utilize the possibilities of mechanization for rejuvenating the coir sector and making it more profitable. The project is funded by Prime Minister's National Relief Fund through the Tsunami Emergency Assistance Project (TEAP) with assistance of Fisheries Department, Govt of Kerala. The project is technically supported by the Coir Development Department of Govt. of Kerala, The Coir Fed, National Coir Research and Management Institute (NCRMI), Kerala State Coir Corporation and Form Mattings India Ltd.

The project is proposed to be implemented in the selected government notified tsunami affected Panchayaths of Kollam, Alappuzha and Kozhikode districts. The project envisages the establishment of 21 fully automatic spinning units and 4 semi automatic Creel Mat Loom units. The beneficiaries are selected women coir workers enrolled in the Kerala Coir Workers Welfare Fund Board as members and genuinely interested in micro enterprise activities in connection with coir sector. The strategy is to organize groups of women workers into Activity Groups which comprise ten members in each group through the process of social mobilization, training and capacity building. Thus a minimum of 250 beneficiaries along with their family will be directly benefited by the project .

The land for setting up the work sheds will be provided either by the concerned Panchayaths or by the approved Activity Groups

The Details of the a member Project are furnished below:

The cost sharing of the project is such a way that 80% of the total cost would be given by PMNRF, 5% by group members and the rest of the 15% would be bank loan. The expected cost for establishing one automatic spinning unit is 6.5 lakhs and for coir loom unit is 13 lakhs. The land required for the project will be identified with the assistance of LSGs/ beneficiary group. The group members would be provided trainings in behavioral skill development, managerial skill development, market analysis and technical skill development. Regular liaison and dissemination of information on project progress will continue at the end of the project. The proposed intervention have a collaborative approach to maximize resources, provide synergy to activities and facilitate harmonize implementation of project activities with other agencies to maximize the outputs to target beneficiary group.