Bijay Damase

August 30: Preparations are underway to make the Social Security Fund (SSF) more effective. The contribution-based social security scheme was launched with much fanfare by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli in 2018.

Four years down the line, the fund is preparing a draft to provide up to Rs 1 million for regular contributors in case they suffer from fatal disease. At present, there is no provision to provide such amount to the contributors.

Currently, the contributors can avail up to Rs 100,000 under the medical facility in case they fall sick. Pregnant women are also provided medical facilities. Officials of SSF say that they are doing homework to add fatal disease to the scheme and it will be implemented soon.

The fund is also preparing to increase the coverage of medical facilities. So far, the fund has been bearing medical cost of the contributors alone but the facility will soon be extended to six family members, says Bivek Panthi, director of SSF.

According to Panthi, the SSF is holding discussions to prepare the draft.

“The draft is being prepared by including suggestions from the private sector as well as organisations from across the country,” Panthi told New Business Age.

“We will finalize the draft soon,” he added.

Likewise, the SSF is also planning to launch scholarship scheme. Panthi informed that the contributors who have contributed for at least three years will be entitled to the scholarship facility.

“We are currently discussing who shall we provide the scholarship and how much shall be the scholarship amount,” Panthi further said.

Executive Director of the fund Kapil Mani Gyawali informed that they were working to ensure that the SSF becomes more dynamic. He said that the draft will include as much suggestions as possible from the private sector workers.

 “The upcoming schemes will take the SSF to new heights,” he said.

He informed that the SSF has already started providing health facilities through the automated electronic system. Gyawali believes that the contributors will not have to face the burden of submitting the medical bills to the SSF in person.

The contributors of SSF are getting hassle-free medical services from more than one hundred hospitals across the country including TU Teaching Hospital, Bir Hospital, National Trauma Centre, Patan Hospital, and Kathmandu Medical College among others.

The contributors need to show their identity cards with their SSF number clearly visible to avail facilities from these hospitals. Earlier, the contributors had to pay the bills at these hospitals themselves and would get refunded later after presenting the bills to the SSF. Now with the automated system in place, the contributors only need to pay 20 percent of the total amount. In case of an accident, the SSF will refund 100 amount incurred in the treatment to the respective hospital.

The SSF has also started working outside the valley by setting up branch offices.

The fund has recently launched its digital app to attract the contributors. As of August 27, more than 356,000 workers affiliated to 17000 organisations of the private sector have been affiliated to the SSF.

However, the  SSF is not free from controversy. It still has to rely on loans for meeting the day-to-day office expenses and to pay the salary of the officials.