Dipu Soni's Story
Dipu Soni is nine years old and lives in the village
of Vijayraghavgarh, Madhya Pradesh. In
April 2009 he was flying his kite when he fell from the roof of his
house. Dipu was knocked unconscious by the fall and his bleeding
remained untreated for some time. His parents sought the help of
Share Microfin Ltd. (SML) to which the family had been contributing
an annual health insurance premium of INR 479 (approximately USD
11).
The local SML employee, Mr. Manoj Chourasia contacted
Pavan Kumar, Client Relationship Officer at MicroEnsure. The next
day, Dipu was admitted to the networked medical centre, Mohanlal
Gupta Memorial Hospital in the nearby town of Katni. He was placed
in intensive care and remained in the hospital for a further five
days until being discharged on the first of May.
The cost of Dipu's medical expenses totalled INR 9200
(approximately USD 201) and were paid for by the health insurance
scheme that his family had joined.
Without insurance, Dipu's family would have been forced to
take out a loan with a monthly interest rate of around 3%. If
repaid within a year, the repayments could have cost as much as INR
30 (approximately USD 0.66) per day. As labourers, Dipu's parents
earn below the poverty line, estimated by the World Bank at INR
14.3 (approximately USD 0.31) per day in rural India. Because
Dipu's family were covered by an insurance scheme it meant
that the financial cost to them was only INR 1.3 (approximately USD
0.03) per day. Without micro-insurance, Dipu's story might be very
different.