Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 15 ( IANS) In a first-of-its-kind initiative in India, the Kerala government is set to roll out ‘Norka Care’, a comprehensive health and accident insurance scheme exclusively for Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs).

Vice Chairman of NORKA, the agency acting as an interface between NRK and the government of Kerala, P. Sriramakrishnan, said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the scheme on September 22 in Thiruvananthapuram.

Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal will preside over the launch function, where the Norka Care mobile application will also be released.

The project aims to provide cashless medical treatment to NRKs and their families through over 16,000 hospitals across India, including more than 500 hospitals in Kerala.

Efforts are underway to extend the facility to hospitals in GCC countries as well.

Those holding a Norka ID card can enroll in the scheme.

Returning expatriates will also be able to continue their policy without interruption.

Sriramakrishnan noted that comprehensive health and accident insurance has been a longstanding demand of expatriate Keralites, voiced repeatedly in platforms such as the Loka Kerala Sabha, and is now being realized through Norka Care.

Enrollment for the scheme will be open during a global registration drive from September 22 to October 22, and the benefits will become available starting November 1, Kerala Piravi Day.

According to Norka Roots CEO Ajith Kolassery, the scheme offers Rs 5 lakh health insurance coverage and Rs 10 lakh accident insurance coverage, with no age restrictions or mandatory medical tests.

Kerala has over 2.5 million Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs), with nearly 90 per cent of them living in various Middle East countries.

Ever since the Vijayan government assumed office in 2016, he has often been lauded for the concerns he and his government have shown to the Kerala diaspora.

The annual remittances of the Kerala diaspora, estimated to be over one lakh crore, account for around 15 per cent of Kerala’s GDP, sustaining millions of households, and have always been seen as the backbone of the state economy.

–IANS

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