Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday directed the authorities concerned to bring insurance activities under a technology-based automation system and settle client insurance claims quickly to restore people’s faith in the sector. ‘Bring all activities of the insurance sector under a technology-based automation system,’ she said. Hasina said this while addressing an event organised in observance of the first National Insurance Day at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) with a vow to build a developed country. She also asked the authorities to undertake massive publicity programmes to create awareness on insurance and attract more people to the insurance schemes. She emphasised the implementation of a modern ICT-based automation system aimed at making the availing of insurance services easier for clients. Noting that the people still lacked trust in the insurance industry, she urged the authorities to give special importance to overcome this problem. She particularly mentioned some risk oriented sectors like transport and garment, saying that the working class people should be brought under the insurance policy so that they could get financial security at their bad times, such as accidents. Hasina emphasised providing training to the educated youth on insurance, and said that they could be made free from the curse of unemployment. She said that the Bangladesh Bank and the Insurance Development and Controlling Authority were going to introduce the ‘Bangabandhu Education Insurance’ for school students. ‘The step has been taken to ensure education for students of different schools up to the secondary level in absence of their parents or guardians or even due to lack of their physical capability,’ she said. Hasina highlighted the involvement of the country’s founding president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in the insurance sector. She said that Sheikh Mujib had worked in the insurance industry alongside doing politics to meet his livelihood expenses. After the country’s independence, he enacted the necessary laws and formed institutional bodies to make the insurance industry more vibrant, she said. Hasina also elaborated on the government’s initiatives for the development of the insurance industry and said that the Insurance Act, 2010 had been formulated in place of the old law of 1938 alongside the formulation of the National Insurance Policy 2014. Besides, the government had also constituted the Insurance Development and Controlling Authority, 2010 to give the industry an institutional shape, she added. She said that the government had introduced insurance for Bangladeshi expatriate workers, while steps had also been taken to introduce various types of insurances, including agriculture insurance, health insurance, insurance, for rail passengers and building insurance. Referring to a Tk 632-crore project for the development of the country’s insurance sector, she mentioned that the government was implementing it in collaboration with the World Bank to bring all insurance companies under the automation system. Hasina hoped that full implementation of the project would help to increase professional and technological capabilities of insurance companies as well as strengthen trust and confidence of the people in the sector. ‘Besides, the government also introduced a state-of-the-art IT-based Unified Messaging Platform System to protect the interests of the clients,’ she said. Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the function. Insurance Development and Controlling Authority chairman Shafiqur Rahman Patwary, senior secretary of Finance Division Ashraful Alam, Bangladesh Insurance Association president Sheikh Kabir Hossain and Bangladesh Insurance Forum president BM Yusuf Ali spoke on the occasion. Earlier, Hasina unveiled two insurance related books titled IDRA Directives and Bima Manual. She also handed over the Bima Padak among five recipients for their contributions to the insurance sector.
