In an effort to increase awareness of life insurance in India, Telenor India will be launching a schools outreach programme to impress upon students the importance of life insurance.
Telenor India, a mobile network operator, is teaming up with Shriram Life, a Life Insurance company and MicroEnsure, a specialist insurance provider, to reach out to 3 million students across 4000 schools in more than 20 towns in India.
Mr Sharad Mehrotra, CEO of Telenor India Communications, said of the programme: “It is imperative to create awareness among mass market customers around life insurance. As a socially responsible operator, Telenor aims to extend the benefits of life insurance to them. We believe children are the biggest influencers in a family and can contribute immensely in educating their parents on the importance of being insured. We are confident that the event will help us cascade the message of financial security to their parents and enrich their lives beyond just connecting them to a mobile network.”
The outreach and awareness program will be manned by Telenor employees who will be distributing educational material to the students. These materials include stationary such as pencils and, educational pamphlets that explain what Life Insurance is about and the many benefits it brings to a family.
Telenor India’s insurance initiative, Telenor Surashka, has over 24.5million customers who are able to avail life insurance for free by maintaining a monthly minimum average recharge. The maximum life cover is INR50,000 (US$734) per person.
Other outreach programmes
Telenor India’s student outreach programme is consistent with other educational and awareness efforts organised by other insurance institutions. This is to be expected in a country such as India that has a low insurance penetration rate, 3.4% for the financial year 2015-2016.
One such other example is PNB Metlife partnering up with the Insurance Foundation of India and organising and conducting the Insurance Awareness Program. The programme’s aim is to educate people on the basic concepts and importance of insurance. Having held workshops in Uttar Pradesh, Gurgaon and Jammu, they have been able to reach out to more than 50,000 people. The programme consists of activities where specially produced films, songs and comic books are used to educate and promote life insurance. PNB Metlife also partners with colleges and academic institutions to allow young adults to understand the concepts of financial planning and the basics of money management.
Speaking about the event, Mr. SK Sethi, Vice President of the Insurance Foundation of India stressed that a special emphasis is given to answering the questions of the audience so as to dispel the insurance myths and unsubstantiated biases they might have.