Page 7 - Insurance Times April 2023

Shriram General opens all- imaginary vineyards, banana planta- Double export cover:
tions and pomegranate and sweet
woman branches
lime orchards. Goyal to ECGC
Shriram General Insurance Co. (SGIC)
The alleged scam has prompted the Commerce and industry minister
announced the opening of all-women
Centre to order a physical verification Piyush Goyal has asked the Export
branches in Ludhiana and Jaipur.
or 'ground-truthing' of all crops regis- Credit Guarantee Corporation
Said to be the first-of-its-kind initiative tered under the Restructured Weather (ECGC) of India to double the limit
in the insurance sector, the workforce Based Crop Insurance Scheme to Rs 40 crore under a recently
spans from the branch manager to (RWBCIS) in the state, and action launched scheme that insures up
support staff, said the company in a against farmers who have fraudulently to 90% of the credit risk in export
statement. insured their crops. finance.
Going forward, the company plans to In November last year, the state agri- "I would request the CMD of ECGC
to move the Rs 20 crore export
replicate the same model on a pan- culture department received an RTI
limit to Rs 40 crore, so that sectors
India basis to facilitate the professional application seeking details of the docu-
growth of women. ments submitted for claiming insur- other than gems & jewellery and
commodities are covered under
"Studies have found that women who ance for alleged losses suffered on a
this expanded credit risk cover re-
work in diverse organisations report sweet lime orchard in Balgaon village
gime of 90% for any potential risk
higher job satisfaction. By hiring quali- in Jat taluka of Sangli district. In its
or loss. In return, we want the in-
fied women at all levels, we create a reply to the plea, the department
dustry to assure full honesty and
more inclusive culture that values di- shared with the RTI applicant details
integrity in claims and in the way
versity. The CFO and the Legal Head at of the claimant, including the Aadhaar
we work with ECGC," said Goyal.
SGIC are women, which is indicative of card, bank details and geotagged pic-
He was inaugurating ECGC's new
the culture the company has built," tures of the orchard.
headquarters in Andheri, Mumbai.
said Anil Kumar Aggarwal, MD & CEO.
The RTI applicant, Shivanand Nagappa
In his speech, Goyal said that the
Nila, the legal owner of the orchard,
country was certain to achieve the
Alarm bells as crop insur- then reached out to the
target of $750 billion of exports for
commissionerate to point out that it
ance claimed on fake farms, FY23.
had been defrauded by a bogus insur-
orchards in Maharashtra ance claim. The applicant said that The minister also urged ECGC to
reduce documentation. He cited
A Right to Information (RTI) plea in while he cultivated several seasonal
his experience as a businessman in
November 2022 has blown the lid off crops on his land, sweet lime wasn't
the 1990s when he had to give up
a crop insurance fraud in districts among those. The alleged fraudster,
on a claim because of the docu-
across Maharashtra, where compensa- Shavarsidhha Saibanna Dugdhi, had
mentation requirement.
tion was allegedly claimed for losses on allegedly submitted a non-notarised
The Insurance Times April 2023 7