400 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
- As regards nationalization of Insurance it is the most profitable source of money as the following figures show :–
Total number of Insurers registered in
1950 under the Insurance Act 339
Total number of Life Insurance Policies effected in 1949 33,03,000
Sum Insured 7,39,49,00,000
Annual Income by way of Premium 37,18,00,000
Total Invested in Government Securities as required 8,64,16,000
Expenses of Management 29.2 per cent of the premium income.
- From these figures it will be seen that the total money in the hands of the Life Insurance Companies per annum is
37 crores. Unlike Bank deposits they are not demand deposits. Not being demand deposits they can be easily invested in long term development projects. It is true that Insurance Companies invest their monies in Government Securities so that it may be said that in the last resort it is the Government which gets the Insurane money. But this is no answer to nationalization of Insurance. For the amount invested in Government Securities is very small, 9 crores out of 37 crores. Secondly, Government has to pay interest on these securities which is a needless burden on the tax-payer. Thirdly, Insurance Companies eat up annually 29 p.c. of the income from premium which came to
11 crores out of 37 crores for the year 1949. This is intolerable waste of money. All this could be stopped by nationalization.
- The Scheduled Castes Federation will not only press for nationalization of Insurance ; it will make Insurance compulsory for all State and Private Employees. Compulsory Insurance will give security to the individual and funds for the Government for further development.