Health Insurance for the Poor (RSBY)

Name of assignment or project:
Analysis and Evaluation of the health insurance system for the poor (RSBY)/INDIA;

Year: from January 2011 to April 2011

Client: German Corporation for International Cooperation/Germany

Position held: consultant; communication expert

Background of the project:
More than 400 million people in India, or around 90 per cent of the country’s labour force, work as daily wage labourers without contracts, as landless agricultural labourers or as small traders. The majority of these informal workers and their families do not have access to adequate social security. Many families are becoming impoverished as a result of unforeseen expenses, loss of income due to illness, accident or the death of the main earner, and dwindling employment prospects in old age. Although India’s central and state governments offer various social security programmes, they are often poorly administered and difficult to access for workers in the informal sector.

In a major milestone for the provision of social protection for informal workers and their families, the Indian Government passed the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act (UWSSA) in 2008. The Act provides for the establishment of national health insurance, life and accident insurance, and old-age protection, and promises support during pregnancy and childbirth.

Main project features:
Identification of how the Indo-German Social Security Programme (IGSSP) provides policy advice, strengthens the capacities of ministries and other stakeholders, develops training materials, carries out evaluations, offers IT advice, and develops monitoring instruments and information campaigns for informal workers.

Activities performed: Worked as communication expert and healthcare journalist to evaluate the situation of RSBY implementation; analyzed all existing evaluation papers on RSBY, published a final paper on RSBY for creating international awareness of the program.