Senior Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh commended the Board and staff of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) for disposing of all 14,000 within the last three years. Singh was addressing the NIS Board, staff and other invitees during the Scheme’s 54th Anniversary and Awards ceremony held at the Patrick Martinborough Multipurpose Complex, on Carifesta Avenue.
“I am proud of the NIS but the organisation is getting a bad rap because of a few bad eggs and because of a few cases that really are tainting the entire Scheme and so the NIS has an obligation to deliver service in an efficient manner.”
Singh also posited that the Government is firmly committed to the Scheme and to ensuring its viability. He announced that work has already started. A new Actuarial Review has commenced, and the actuary has met with a number of stakeholders.
The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) has repeatedly called on successive governments to wipe-off the NIS’ deficit and return the Scheme to financial viability. It was a recommendation the GTUC again submitted when it met the government on October 6 as part of government consultation on the 2024 National Budget.
GTUC General Secretary Lincoln Lewis has consistently argued that NIS is Guyana’s only social safety net that provides for workers in loss of income, and it is important to keep the Scheme viable to meet this need. The GTUC has also called for the activation of the Unemployment Regulation to provide temporary economic relief to workers who lost their job and are moving in-between jobs.
General Manager of the Scheme Mrs. Holly Greaves in her remarks at the ceremony expressed gratitude to the Minister, the NIS Board and all staff for dedication and hard work over the years.
While congratulating staff on their hard work and for ensuring that the Scheme continues to receive payments and that the vulnerable in society receive their benefits, Chairman of the NIS Board Mr. Ramesh Persaud noted as well that the Scheme needed to work further to revisiting rules to ensure that they made sense in today’s society.
“Society has transformed and so will be required of the NIS. The challenges of NIS have to be resolved now,” he said as a charge to the Scheme’s Board and staff.
Singh also took the opportunity to congratulate those who received bursary and long-service awards, and noted notwithstanding the Scheme’s progress in providing for its contributors much more remains to be done.
NIS was established in 1969 and remains today the preeminent national institution to provide medical insurance, sick, injury, maternity, death and pension (death and survival) benefits. The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) was initially opposed to the NIS and in the past repeatedly called on their supporters to boycott the Scheme.
During the 54th Anniversary ceremony, children of NIS employees who performed outstandingly at various annual examinations, including the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) and the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) were provided with Bursary Awards while long-serving employees and retirees also received awards.
