Helping Communities Manage risks from the ground up.

Priya Panda is a post-graduate from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, and has earned a Master degree in Business Administration from IGNOU. She has extensive experience in rural development both in India & abroad. She has over 10 years of experience in Programme Management, Monitoring & Evaluation, Documentation, and Training & Capacity Building. She joined MIA as a Training Specialist. Her responsibility includes training module development, delivery of training programmes, reviewing the training programmes and coordinating with partner NGOs. 

Ms. Panda has worked extensively on the project in Odisha and has interacted with the communities who are today the members of the NIRAMAYA Community Health Protection Fund. We asked her few questions on the work of MIA and its local partners which made the microinsurance launch in Odisha possible. 

Can you tell us more about the community atmosphere - are people optimistic towards the development of microinsurance in their community? 

People are very welcoming and optimistic about Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI). At first, when we introduced the concept of CBHI through various workshops and campaigns to make people understand about how they could benefit from it, only few knew about the basic concept of insurance. Now that the scheme is on and the first claims are being reimbursed, more and more people are showing interest to enroll to the scheme. 

What has been the most effective tool for introducing microinsurance in these communities? 

We used several tools such as village meetings, household visits, group meetings, informal chatting, street theater, posters and wall paintings. We had a multi-pronged strategy within which each approach had its own relevance. In the impact assessment of the awareness campaign, I found that the group meetings were the most effective channel of dissemination. In small groups, people tend to ask questions and clarify doubts. Using the Treasure Pot game in group meetings has been very effective. The Treasure Pot game first highlights the problems arising in the absence of health insurance and then demonstrates the benefits health insurance offers to people. The game also shows how the community can manage the fund and make decisions...together. 

What has been the greatest challenge in launching the microinsurance schemes in Odisha? 

Challenges were many. Our target group was women who are mostly illiterate. Therefore we had to think of appropriate Information, Education & Communication (IEC) materials which can best explain the concept of CBHI. Women Facilitators were selected from the community for the Awareness campaign. During our campaign we found that women typically have daily chores intermittently spread over entire day. Therefore, our plans for timings had to change to commensurate with their span of attention.