Non-starter for seniors

A group insurance scheme for senior citizens of the community in Calcutta has failed to materialize despite concerted efforts by trustees of the Calcutta Zoroastrian Community’s Religious and Charity Fund (CZCRCF) and the Atash Adaran, notes Calcutta Gavashni’s April-June 2010 edition.

Initially two nationalized companies — National Insurance and United India Insurance — had proposed such a scheme, met with community members and both parties were "quite happy” with the conclusions drawn. Though the scheme seemed attractive both in terms of insurance cover and premium costs, a major catch emerged when the fine print was studied. This was, if the value of the claims exceeded the premiums collected, the insurance companies had the right to either raise the premiums or cancel the policy. As this was most likely to happen in the case of senior citizens, the idea was dropped, Gavashni mentions.

The trustees then began to look for policies for persons up to 80 years of age to be individually covered, with administrative support, and in some cases even financial support, from the two trusts. However, before this could be considered, Dignity Foundation, an NGO (nongovernmental organization) which addresses the concerns of senior citizens, came forward with a most attractive group scheme. Another meeting of the community was convened and everyone went home hopeful that the scheme would materialize soon. But their hopes were dashed as Dignity Foundation had reportedly failed to mention they had a time limit within which to secure a minimum of 1,000 policies. And the entire Zoroastrian community in Calcutta does not comprise such a large number!

So, the trustees are back to square one, still seeking suitable options to present a workable scheme to the community, Gavashni notes.