Rural and social insurance: Need and potential

Insurance in India has been a very extensive program. Before early 2000s, when private and global insurance players had limited to no access to the vast Indian market, things were very different from what they are today. Earlier the government-backed Life Insurance Corporation was the dominant agency for insurance and the scope of outreach in the context of public participation was very limited. In fact, insurance was a limited sector and investments in this industry were limited. For decades this continued to be the reality of business and moreover, the general lack of awareness too played its part in limiting the scope of operations.

However, after the private insurance companies allowed, this industry witnessed a huge boom and insurance became a very broad scope of service. The growth curve was firmly up-scaled and innovative products were launched for the benefits of the general policy holders. Today, insurance has expanded by leaps and bounds to emerge as a huge industry. However, owing to the differentiated and layered social structure and the large differences in the paces of development in rural and urban India, financial awareness has been quite low in rural areas in comparison to urban areas. Insurance in India has long been thought of as an urban affair and is often believed to be limited to cities and towns, outside the purview of India's vast number of villages. Though this may have been true until recent years, today this cannot be totally viewed as a reality.

Apart from the government bodies, private insurers have gradually began to acknowledge the vast untapped potential for a bulging customer base in rural areas. This goes beyond the usual CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities aimed at creating and nurturing financial literacy in the Indian villages. In fact, the change in outlook towards financial responsibility and the need for insurance has already taken place and insurers can now look forward to the ample business opportunities that are ready to be explored.

Many factors have contributed to the rising financial awareness in rural India. The general increase in the income and the spending capacities, an overall increase in the developmental works etc. have all resulted in a potentially viable opportunities in rural areas. Besides, due to digitization and access to global information, the factors of comparison and consultation have increased manifold. Moreover, due to the sessions regarding financial literacy in villages by various agencies, people have started to think in terms of unconventional investment options and safeguarding the capital gains. This has had a very profound impact on the insurance sector in rural areas and thing are expected to become more and more streamlined with the passage of time.

The assets for investment and financial reserves in rural areas are mostly agricultural and subject to random risks like crop failures, loss of livestock etc. This again presents an immense potential for insurers to expand their business segments in rural areas. This not only is good for the industry but also acts as a guarantee for financial inclusion.

HDFC Life offers various rural and social plans for enhanced financial gains and coverage against risks. For details, click on the mentioned link: https://www.hdfclife.com/social-rural-insurance-plans.