LIC DROPS COVER FOR PUNE GARBAGE WORKERS AMIDST HIGH DEATH RATE

An unacceptably high mortality rate for employees of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in India, many of whom are involved in refuse collection and sewage work, has led the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) to drop the group cover it had provided up to July 10. Indian Express noted 227 deaths in the past 20 months, of whom 108 were engaged in refuse and sewage work. Public health specialist Dr Anant Phadke said that it was unfair to scrap the scheme for PMC employees. “From bronchial asthma to lung infection to alcoholism — the list of their ailments is endless and the high mortality rate is alarming and should wake up the administration,” he said. LIC is understood to have offered to continue to provide cover for a higher premium, but the union rejected this. Talks are reportedly taking place between the PMC Workers’ Union and the State Bank of India to provide an alternative form of group cover. Meanwhile, employees at PMC have only their own personally paid for cover and the basic Rp15,000 life cover under Kamgar Kalyan Yojana.