Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana beneficiaries can stake claim online, offline submission of affidavit form not needed

Beneficiaries of Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana (ABVKY) of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) will now no longer have to submit an affidavit form on their claims. According to a report by the Financial Express, the decision has been taken by the Ministry of Labour and Employment after several beneficiaries were facing problems in submitting the claim on the Affidavit form. Beneficiaries who have submitted their claims online under the ABVKY and have submitted copies of their Aadhaar card, as well as other bank details, will no longer be required to file the claim of the affidavit form. The Ministry of Labour and Employment in its notification said, “Considering the difficulties faced by the beneficiaries, it has now been decided that the claimant who has submitted the claim under Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana online and uploaded the scanned copies of the required documents i.e. copies of Aadhaar and Bank details need not submit the physical claim.” The ministry added that if the documents are not uploaded during online filing of the claim, beneficiaries will have to submit the printout of the claim duly signed along with the required documents. “Condition for submitting the claim in Affidavit Form has been dispensed with,” it said. The ESI Corporation held a meeting on 20 August where it had extended the Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021. It also decided to enhance the rate of relief under the scheme from 25 percent of the average daily earning at present to 50 percent of average daily earning. The corporation has also relaxed the eligibility conditions for the period 24 March 2020 to 31 December 2020, providing relief to workers who have become unemployed at the time of COVID-19 pandemic. A report by Livemint, the ESIC is a social security organisation providing comprehensive benefits including reasonable medical care and a range of cash benefits in times of need such as employment injury, sickness, death. The corporation is covering nearly 3.49 crores of workers’ family and providing cash benefits and affordable medical care to its 13.56 crore beneficiaries.