4 days ago
Panel report on disaster risk financing yet to be enforced in Kerala
Even as Kerala is reeling under the monsoon fury, the government is yet to implement the proposals by a committee on disaster risk financing led by K. Ravi Raman, member, State Planning Board, which were submitted four years ago.
The panel, set up against the backdrop of the 2018 floods and other natural calamities, had suggested that a new risk transfer mechanismfor financing disasters could be implemented and a climate risk insurance modelmay be adopted. It had also proposed a State disaster risk fund pool.
For insurance coverage, the panel said, the households in the State may be classified into trust/assurance mode, hybrid mode, and full-cost mode. In trust/ assurance mode, the government will have to pay the full premium rate of ₹31 for an insured sum of ₹1 lakh as a group insurance scheme. The entire section of yellow and pink ration cardholders (38.32 lakh households) can be made part of it.
Of the 24.73 lakh blue ration cardholders, who belong to the non-priority subsidy category, 22.26 lakh may be included in the hybrid mode as the rest are assumed to have been covered by some kind of insurance. There can be two options. As the first option, these people may have to pay 50% of the premium (₹15) as subsidy through direct insurance and the rest will have to be paid by the government as indirect insurance. In the second option, the government may have to identify households whose residents are employed in the unorganised sector and are living in the most environmentally vulnerable areas. The government can pay the full premium rate for the identified section. The others can pay 50% of the premium as subsidy through direct insurance and the rest of the amount will have to be paid by government as indirect insurance.
Of the 26.07 lakh white ration cardholders in the non-priority category, 23.9 lakh can be included in the full cost mode, and asked to pay the full premium as the others are expected to have been covered under some kind of insurance either individually or through their employers.
The government may also develop a State Disaster Risk Fund Poolas a new disaster risk financial source and the climate risk insurance can be implemented using its funds. The amount collected for the purpose can be deposited in a disaster risk pool account. An estimated ₹566 crorewould be the initial resource base for the proposed pool, which could be obtained from taxation and other methods.
The nodal authorityto supervise and regulate matters related may be the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority. It is also possible to consider the Kerala State Insurance Department as a nodal agency. The department should work in collaboration with the KSDMA, district disaster management authorities and local self-government institutions, the panel had said.
