In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a new insurance program has been introduced for Indian workers.
This program guarantees that their families would get compensation of up to Dh75,000 in the event that the employee passes away, regardless of whether the death was the result of an accident or natural causes.
Implementation date
According to a statement released by the Indian Consulate in Dubai on Tuesday, the program, which is known as the Life Protection Plan (LPP), went into effect on March 1.
There are 2.27 million blue-collar workers in the United Arab Emirates, and the consulate stated that the LPP was a policy that was developed to fill a vacuum in employment benefits for these individuals.
There is no mandatory coverage offered in the event that an employee passes away due to natural causes, despite the fact that many businesses offer health insurance and reimbursement for work-related injuries and deaths from their employees. This means that many families of workers could be left in a difficult situation, with no finances available to cover the costs of repatriation, in the event that their primary earner passes away.
A meeting between two insurance service providers and significant enterprises in the United Arab Emirates that are in the process of recruiting blue-collar workers was sponsored by the Indian Consulate in order to address this issue.
Premiums and benefits paid annually
For persons between the ages of 18 and 70, the insurance plan is available with annual costs that range from Dh37 to Dh72 dollars.
Beneficiaries are eligible to receive compensation that can vary anywhere from Dh35,000 to Dh75,000, depending on the premium that they choose, in the event that a worker passes away as a result of an accident or natural causes.
Additionally, the plan offers coverage of Dh12,000 for the repatriation of the remains of the insured employee.
Two insurance companies collaborated on a package that was tailored exclusively for blue-collar workers, and after that, the terms and conditions were negotiated with the companies that were responsible for recruitment.
A brief summary of the policy is as follows:
- The maximum amount of compensation for the policy with an annual premium of Dh72 is Dh75,000
- It is Dh50,000 for every year that costs Dh50.
- It is Dh35,000 for Dh37, and there will be 1,000 worker deaths in 2023.
- The United Arab Emirates is home to over 3.5 million Indians, with approximately 65 percent of them being blue-collar workers, according to the Indian Consulate.
According to Consul-General Satish Sivan, "The welfare of the Indian community continues to be our single most important priority."
"Keeping in view a large number of natural death cases of workers in a year and in order to provide some financial benefits to the family of the deceased, the Consulate-General of India, Dubai, encourages all companies to consider a subscription to the [LPP]."
The expedition documented a total of 1,750 fatalities in Dubai in the year 2022, with 1,100 of those fatalities being workers. In 2023, a similar pattern was observed, with a total of 1,513 worker deaths, with 1,000 of those deaths occurring. It was determined that natural causes were responsible for more than ninety percent of these deaths.
