PM's principal secretary P K Mishra calls for expanding insurance coverage across diverse sectors

New Delhi: Expressing concerns over the rising frequency and intensity of disasters globally, including in India, Prime Minister's Principal Secretary P K Mishra has advocated for a strategic vision to expand insurance coverage across diverse sectors and entities.

According to a statement issued Saturday, Mishra was speaking at a National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) workshop on 'Why Disaster Risk Insurance Matters -- Key Concepts and Benefits'.

He said ensuring that insurance is not only available but also accessible to the most vulnerable is a key challenge.

At the event held on Friday, Mishra deliberated on the likely role of the government in supporting the expansion of insurance coverage.

He also posed several questions such as, "Should the government act as a catalyst, facilitating the growth of the insurance market, or should it take a more direct role such as purchasing insurance for certain sectors? How should the government create public-private partnerships that improve the outreach of insurance services and products?"

Mishra then added that these questions directly relate to the fiscal sustainability of insurance-related interventions.

He also underscored the need for robust actuarial expertise and a well-defined legal framework.

In the context of emerging trends in expanding insurance coverage, Mishra focussed on two critical issues, including ways to effectively reach those segments of the population who find it difficult to purchase insurance.

Emerging trends highlight India's potential to innovate in its application of disaster risk insurance and join the global trend towards more resilient, efficient and inclusive insurance solutions, he said.

Mishra said this raises questions of accessibility and how insurance reach can be broadened through more affordable pricing, increased awareness and a simplified claim settlement process.

Touching on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision and commitment to this subject, he also delved into an all-inclusive 10-point agenda on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).

Mishra, the statement said, observed that disaster risk coverage is a must for all, starting from poor households to small and medium enterprises to multi-national corporations and nation-states.

He mentioned two notable government-backed insurance programmes, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Ayushman Bharat.

Mishra said both these initiatives are central to the government's broader agenda of promoting social equity, financial inclusion and household-level risk management, demonstrating the critical intersection of insurance with development goals.

Calling for building on the success of existing programmes such as the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and Ayushman Bharat, he recommended exploring the introduction of a large-scale disaster risk insurance to address the significant protection gap in this under-insured area.

Mishra said this would involve designing differentiated insurance products and services for a range of stakeholders, including households, small businesses, utilities, infrastructure services, and various levels of government -- local, state and central.

Underlining a key challenge which lies in ensuring the financial viability of these mechanisms, Mishra said the success of any insurance model depends on effectively distributing risks.

He said globally, the development of diversified insurance products for disaster risks is gaining momentum.

The NDMA and Department of Financial Services' diverse outreach to global and domestic, private and public institutions to gain deeper insights into these financial structures will surely assist in building a robust disaster insurance market in India, Mishra added.

He also suggested diverse insurance solutions as he underlined the need for sustainability at its core -- providing insurance to an ever-expanding group at affordable rates while maintaining a growing and viable risk pool, the statement said.