Hyderabad: Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) expressed concern over an accident insurance scheme covering over 13.11 lakh transport and auto drivers, Home Guards, and journalists in Telangana that has lapsed, exposing beneficiaries to financial risk amid pending claims worth Rs 22.7 crore. The union demanded the renewal and expansion of the accident insurance scheme.

Scheme collapse leaves lives in limbo

The Rs 5 lakh coverage, active since 2015, expired on 8th October 2024, with no immediate renewal in sight. In a statement, Shaik Salauddin, Founder President of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU), said, “Worryingly, 454 claims amounting to Rs 22.7 crore from the 2019–2024 period remain unsettled, highlighting severe lapses in coordination between the Labour Department, Transport Department, and insurance companies.”

Salauddin further added that these delays and administrative failures have exposed thousands of hardworking individuals and their families to immense risk, undermining the state's commitment to worker welfare.

Some of the union demands include the Government of Telangana acting immediately and decentralising scheme implementation under the Transport Department for efficient execution, increasing insurance coverage to Rs 10 lakh, including accidental disability and hospitalisation benefits, ensuring uninterrupted policy renewal to prevent future lapses in coverage, and conducting awareness campaigns to educate beneficiaries about the scheme and claims process.

Meanwhile, K T Ramarao, working president of Bharat Rastra Samithi(BRS), taking to X (formerly Twitter), demanded that, “The state government restart the Rs 5 lakh accident insurance scheme and settle the pending claims immediately. otherwise, we warn that we will take up a large-scale agitation on behalf of the drivers and bend the necks of this inhuman government!”