Kathmandu. For a developing country like Nepal, insurance is the most effective way to reduce poverty. It plays an important role in poverty alleviation by providing financial support during emergent risks. With this consciousness, Subash Rijal of Sanima Reliance has been pursuing insurance as a mega campaign.
Subash, who has been in the life insurance business from Butwal, has been working for the last 7 years. Born as the ninth child out of 10 children in Kapilvastu, Subash has completed his master’s degree. He completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Pokhara and Trichandra College from Kapilvastu.
After completing his studies, Subash returned from working in Korea for 5 years and is pursuing the profession of insurance agent professionally. His background in insurance is poignant. He was also on a journey on the day of a big landslide near Siddhababa of Palpa 7 years ago. A doctor and his wife died on the spot. He could not sleep the whole night due to this incident. He felt that life was uncertain. Such uncertainty cannot be prevented, but the risk can be minimized, so he entered this profession by going to the Butwal branch of Sanima Reliance, insuring his one-year-old father, wife and himself.
During this time, I got an opportunity to learn and learn about insurance from the regional manager of the company’s regional office, Butwal, Jaydev Gautam and branch head Prakash Gautam. It was just before COVID-19. During the month’s commute, Subash not only got his insurance but also encouraged him to become an agent and move forward professionally. Then he became an insurance agent, which is a social work. I was determined to get into it. This 20-25 day stay encouraged Subash to embrace the profession of insurance agent and move forward.
Subash finds the agent as important as any other profession. If someone buys an item for Rs 600 and sells it for Rs 1,000, he does not comment on the profit made from it, but he is very sad about the criticism of the agent profession on things like commission as per the rules. He says that giving unlimited time and night to get insurance will also cost time and various resources.
In the initial phase, Subash provided big insurance to the big personalities of Butwal. But he was told by the regional and branch heads, “If you want to be known in the society and really do social service, then get insurance for people in rural areas.” It will be your virtuous work,” he said. He then went to the rural settlement of Kapilvastu, where he was born.
Subash, who has been doing big insurance in the city, went to insure the children of the poorest of the poor. At that time, he was one of the largest policy-issuers of Sanima Life. In this way, he took the insurance forward as a campaign. During this time, he also had many bittersweet experiences.
One of Subash’s close relatives had offered insurance before Covid-19. He refused to buy insurance. He later died of COVID-19. Then he was inspired to get into insurance. He also spent Rs 20-30 lakh on the treatment of Covid-19 and even lost his life.
Subash was the treasurer of the Welcome Savings and Credit Cooperative, Butwal. Where a member of the loan committee proposed insurance to the couple of the aunt’s aunt. However, the couple asked to wait a few days. Unfortunately, he died in an accident while on his way to Bhairahawa from Butwal.
Similarly, Subash had offered a friend an insurance of Rs 50 lakh. “I have a lot of money, I don’t need insurance,” he said. He did not consume alcohol, alcohol and cigarettes, and suffered kidney failure. Now, during his treatment, he has lost a lot of property. Subash says that now the same friend is regretting that he refused to take the insurance.
Subash says that he will never be deprived of this profession if someone falls ill, dies or has an accident while going for insurance. He says, “When I see him walking on the road begging for kidney failure, I feel that if he could have been insured on time, he would not have to face this day.” ’
In the Terai community, most people eat 15-20 bholas daily. Paan, cigarettes, and alcohol are widely consumed. “If someone could save only the money to eat, there would be an insurance of Rs 5 lakh,” says Subash.
This is what Subash is spreading awareness in the villages. He also went to the hilly areas of Arghakhanchi. They also advise farmers to get insurance equivalent to the amount of one goat. He goes from village to village saying that the money will facilitate the higher education of his children in the future.
As part of this campaign, Subash has provided insurance to every village. He is not the only agent working as an agent. They go from village to village. They are also building big teams by making agents. He has already insured thousands of people and has also created hundreds of agents.
During this time, Subash also qualified MDRT for the year 2022. He’s not the only one in this profession. He has also taken his wife Radhika Pokhrel along with him. In 2023, Radhika has also qualified for MDRT.
While Subash is providing such a large number of insurance, not a single claim has been made so far. It has pledged to make one agency manager this year. He is aiming to build a team with him and work on the team. In this way, due to his sacrifice and penance, he has created a situation where he can earn 4-5 lakh rupees monthly.
After working in South Korea for five years, Subash has been earning better income in Nepal than in Korea. This has also encouraged him to stay in the insurance sector for a long time.
Importance of Insurance
Subash has built an agency from urban areas to rural areas. He aims to build an agency across Nepal. While running this campaign, he found a lot of tendency that people spend exorbitantly, but if they do not have insurance, they have no money. He says, “When you see people spending, it seems that no one here is poor. He has been slaughtering chickens, slaughtering goats, drinking alcohol, eating naïve cigarettes and chewing betel leaves in small gatherings and gatherings. But if you talk about insurance, do it like a wet cat. ’
Subash said that people were also demotivated by the wrong briefing of some people. In the beginning, insurance companies did not reach the villages as they do now. There were no branch offices in each city. At that time, the insured used to pay the insurance premium to the agent and the agent did not deliver the amount to the insurance company, so the insured’s money was lost in the middle. As a result, he found, many people became negative about insurance based on the same incident.
When he went from village to village for insurance, he was surrounded by some insured. He says, “In some cases, I had to bear and answer for the mistakes made by others. I had to admit my mistake and explain the rest. ’
Subash said that when he went from village to village, he saw his grandfather, father, son and grandson living as porters. He found that in some families, he did not study beyond the 5th grade. “I am not qualified to be an agent,” he said.
In this way, Subash has vowed to bring all people under the ambit of insurance and improve their economic and social status through his mega campaign of insurance. During this time, Subash has been visiting various schools, clubs and groups. He doesn’t believe that he has to be insured. Instead, they make the person they choose as an agent and get the insurance. On the other hand, cooperatives have also been found to be submerged in the meantime and self-help groups have not been able to manage them.
Here, when one’s family members fall ill, they have to raise donations but are not ready to bring that risk under the ambit of insurance by insuring.
Subash says that families will be on the streets tomorrow as people do not have insurance despite having the capacity.
He believes that if everyone is insured, there will be a revolution in the society. If the insurance is taken on time, then the ability of people to save will also increase and if the insurance premium has to be raised for insurance, then people who work for 6 hours will be able to work for 7-8 hours. “People here have become poor by spending a lot of money instead of saving it,” he says, “If they save a certain amount of money through insurance, it will reduce the poverty rate.” Therefore, it is necessary for us to reach out to the poor slums. I am taking this forward as a mega campaign. ’
