In the recent Balasore train accident, close to 300 people lost their lives. Almost none of them had purchased an accidental insurance coverage of Rs 10 lakh at the time of buying the tickets. This speaks volumes about the level of risk awareness in the country.
There was a silver lining, though. Many of them had been insured under Jan Suraksha schemes of the government and that fetched some money for the family members of the deceased passengers. So, people are ready to pay a very small premium — Rs 426 for Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Rs 20 for Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana — for an insurance coverage of Rs 2 lakh each.
