Navratri gift: Mata Vaishno Devi shrine pilgrims to get free Rs 5 lakh insurance cover

In a good news for pilgrims visiting the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine at Katra in Jammu, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) has approved an enhancement of free accident insurance cover for pilgrims visiting the shrine from the existing Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, a shrine board spokesman said on Sunday. The enhancement in the insurance cover came after eight years and the premium was borne by the shrine board.

A shrine board spokesman said that the board approved enhancement of Group Accident  Insurance cover for pilgrims. Medical facilities for pilgrims en route Katra to the Bhawan would be upgraded and augmented.

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"The accident cover extended to each pilgrim free of cost shall now be Rs five lakh instead of existing Rs three lakh for pilgrims aged five years and above and Rs three lakh for pilgrims below five years of age up from Rs one lakh at present," the spokesman said as quoted by news agency PTI.

He said the board also approved additional life insurance cover of Rs five lakh to pilgrims who avail the service of the upcoming passenger ropeway between Bhawan and Bhairon Ghati. The decisions were taken at the 63rd meeting of board which was held at the Raj Bhavan in Srinagar on Saturday under the chairmanship of Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik, who is also the Chairman of the board, an official spokesman said Sunday.

The shrine board also gave its nod to a support policy for the treatment of victims of public trauma under its social support initiative at the super speciality hospital. The beneficiaries in this policy will include public trauma victims of road accidents, landslides or shooting stone incidents and such calamities from surrounding areas of the shrine referred to the hospital by the Deputy Commissioners concerned to provide emergency medical aid, the spokesman said.

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A ceiling of Rs two lakh would be in place and medical assistance would be provided till the patient's condition was stabilised. The board has also decided to create a new medical facility at Bhairon Temple at an estimated cost of Rs one crore.

The meeting also reviewed the functioning of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Super Speciality Hospital, Kakryal and expressed satisfaction on its performance.