VimoSEWA developed “Saral Suraksha Yojana,” an innovative income loss insurance product that protects insured members from out-of-pocket expenses incurred during a health crisis when hospitalization is neeed. As one of the earliest aggregators in the insurance industry, VimoSEWA has spent over two decades focusing on the needs and risks faced by informal women workers and their families.

Overall insurance penetration in India was less than 4% in 2019, leading to a significant gap in safety nets to protect against crises. While various insurance services exist, few address income loss faced by the poor due to unforeseen crises. For these communities, health issues can significantly impact their financial status. Among India’s poorest households, wage loss due to illness accounts for about 15% of total spending – three times more than medical expenses.

The primary policyholders are women of the targeted households. The income loss insurance product also increases the resilience of the targeted low-income rural households against risk of death due to accidents by providing a cover and financial protection to the family for a fixed number of days annually.

The project will span six blocks across two districts of West Tripura and North Garo Hills, covering over 700 villages with over 600,000 low-income women. The project aims to educate 25,000 individuals across 210 villages about insurance. Notably, 78% of the rural population of West Tripura earn less than INR 5000 (USD 60) per month, and about 61% of households in North Garo Hills live below the poverty line.