Apart from unveiling plans for Rs 5 lakh healthcare cover for 10 crore poor families for free,the Budget-2018 also announced providing other services like micro-insurance to Jan Dhan Bank Accounts holders which will help increase penetration of Insurance.  In the line of government’s ‘Ease of Living’ objective, the Government has encouraged Senior Citizens to buy health insurance by increasing tax exemption limit for the same under Section 80D from Rs 30, 000 to Rs 50, 000. 

Vijayan who is retiring in February 2018 considers improving insurance penetration as an unfinished agenda in his tenure. Considering there is less than 3 per cent penetration in India and almost 7 per cent globally, it indicates a huge potential for Insurance in the coming years.We have seen insurance penetration go up, especially with schemes like Fasal Bima Yojana, Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Suraksha Bima Yojana. But it is still very low, especially in the general insurance sector and still has a lot of area to cover,”

Epicentre of the quake was near the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border and occurred at a depth of around 190 kilometres,” an official said in Srinagar.There were no reports of any damage in India due to the earthquake.