BENGALURU: Karnataka has become the first state in the country to announce Rs 1 crore in insurance compensation for employees who die in road accidents.
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has disbursed Rs 1 crore each as Accident Insurance Relief Compensation to the dependents of four employees who lost their lives in the line of duty. Additionally, Rs 10 lakh in compensation has also been given to 23 dependents of employees who passed away due to various illnesses while in service.
Speaking after the distribution of insurance compensation, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said that the plan devised by the corporation for the financial self-sufficiency of the victim’s family is farsighted. He asked them to make good use of this amount and use it for children’s education, building a house, and to be careful not to waste money on anything else.
He said that the role of drivers, managers, staff, officers and labour leaders of the corporation, who have played a major role in successfully implementing the Shakti Yojana, is commendable.
KSRTC board president and Gubbi MLA S R Srinivas said that the staff working in the corporation are hardworking and should be provided with all the facilities they deserve. He said that the compensation amount distributed should be adequately used by the family to maintain the financial self-sufficiency and health of the family.
With the objective of providing financial security to the dependents of its employees, the KSRTC has implemented an accident insurance scheme that provides an accident insurance compensation of Rs 1 crore. So far, the families of 13 employees have received accident insurance amount of Rs 1 crore each, which has already been distributed and an accident compensation amount of Rs 1 crore has been distributed to the dependents of four deceased personnel. A total of Rs 1 crore has been given to the families of 17 employees so far.
Realising that the number of employees dying due to heart attack, cancer or stroke is being recorded in high numbers in recent times and noting the hardships experienced by the families of employees who succumb to such diseases, the compensation amount given under the Employees’ Family Welfare Scheme of Rs 3 lakh will be increased to Rs 10 lakh to be applicable in cases of death.
Under this revised compensation scheme, compensation of Rs 10 lakhs has been given so far in 16 cases and a compensation check of Rs 10 lakhs each was distributed to the family members of 23 eligible cases of personnel who died in the months after December 2023. So far compensation has been distributed to the families of 39 personnel.
In the event of an accident in the corporation’s buses, if the passengers unfortunately die, the present amount of financial compensation provided by the Saddudesh Passenger Accident Relief Fund Trust, which provides greater financial assistance to the dependents of the deceased passengers, has been increased from Rs 3,00,000 to Rs 10,00,000 from January 1.
Under this revised compensation scheme, till now a compensation of Rs 10 lakh has been provided to the dependents of one passenger and the dependents of four deceased passengers were given an accident compensation check of Rs 10 lakhs each.
At the event, V Anbu Kumar, Managing Director of KSRTC, leaders of trade unions like Anantha Subbarao, Vijayabhaskar, Revappa, Manjunath, Chandrasekhar, Nagaraju, Venkataramanappa, Jayaraja Arasu and other officers and staff were present. (ANI)