ICICI Lombard General Insurance has received the mandate from the government of Gujarat for the second time to insure more than 84 lakh (8.4 mn) unorganised sector workers and rural and urban labourers.

State Labour Minister Ramanlal Vora handed over a cheque for Rs 2.46 crore (Rs 24.6 million) as insurance premium to Dilip Jashnani, head, business development, at a function in Gandhinagar on Saturday.

This is in addition to 1.15 lakh (115,000) school students being insured by ICICI Lombard under the specially designed Vidyadeep Vima Yojna and the Khatedar Khedut Vima Yojna, where 55 lakh (5.5 million) farmers have been insured. Collectively under the three policies, ICICI Lombard has covered almost half the population of Gujarat, with over 2.5 crore (25 million) persons being insured.

The Shramik policy will be in the name of the Governor of Gujarat and will come into effect from January 26, 2004, officials said.

Receiving the cheque, Jashnani said, "This is a social commitment. It is our third such plan with the government of Gujarat. We will look to strengthen this relationship further."

The primary benefit to the customer in this revised Shramik policy is that the sum insured per person has been increased from the existing Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000.

The insurance cover is comprehensive with the Shramik Suraksha Yojna covering unorganised sector workers between the age of 14 years to 70 years.

The benefits payable under the policy are Rs 50,000 in case of accidental death, Rs 50,000 in case of accidental loss of two limbs, two eyes, one limb and one eye.

In case of loss of one limb or one eye, the benefits payable will be Rs 25,000.

"We have committed strict service standards and quick and efficient claims handling," an ICICI Lombard official said.

Labour minister Ramanlal Vora said this is perhaps for the first time that any state government has taken up group insurance schemes of unorganised sector workers on such a large scale.

"The satisfactory performance of ICICI Lombard in the past has been the sole reason behind awarding them the mandate again," he said.

Three recipients of insurance claims for the past year, were also handed cheques at the function.

ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd is a 74:26 joint venture between ICICI Bank Ltd and FairfaxGinancial Holdings Ltd, a $26 billion diversified financial services corporate engaged in general insurance, re-insurance and investment management.