After ‘Lakhpati Didi’, ‘Drone Didi’ and ‘Solar Didi’ comes Bima Sakhi, a new scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday which will help women earn up to ₹1.75 lakh a year as commission through selling insurance policies.

The scheme aims to train 2 lakh women as insurance agents. During the three-year training period, a woman trainee will get ₹7,000, ₹6,000 and ₹5,000 per month in first, second and third year, respectively. The scheme is open for any woman, who is educated up to Class X and in the age bracket of 18 to 70 years. After completing their training, they can work as LIC agents. Additionally, graduate Bima Sakhis will have the opportunity to qualify for consideration for Development Officer roles in LIC.

“On an average, an insurance agent gets ₹15,000 a month as commission. This means, a Bima Sakhi can earn more than ₹1.75 lakh a year,” Modi told a gathering of women in Panipat (Haryana). Further, as India aims to achieve the status of Developed Nation by 2024, ‘Insurance for All’ is important initiative in this regard and Bima Sakhi will have a crucial role to play.  “Bima Sakhi is going to help in providing ‘kavach’ for social security,” he said.

Modi said when women get an opportunity to move forward, they open new doors of opportunities for the country. He further said that for a long time, there were many jobs in the country that were forbidden for women. But the government has ensured that these notions are dispelled and obstacles removed for women to become empowered.

Women SHGs

Modi also informed the gathering that over 10 crore women across the country are associated with self-help groups. In the last 10 years, the government has provided assistance of more than ₹8 lakh crore to women-led self-help groups, he noted.

The PM said about 1.15 crore women have become ‘Lakhpati Didis.’ He has set a target to increase this number to 3 crore. A ‘Lakhpati Didi’ refers to a member of a self-help group (SHG) whose annual household income exceeds ₹1 lakh.

Earlier, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said LIC is doing financial inclusion through its 3,800 branches across the country. There were about 6 lakh women agents in 2017 which has now increased to 7.45 lakh. “Bima Sakhi will help in women empowerment,” she said.