The Puen Nye Thuenlam Welfare Scheme is growing popular among the students across the country since its start in 2017. The scheme, which is run by two brothers, is an arrangement where the families of the members or the beneficiaries are awarded a Semso fund for a minimal investment in an event of a loss of life.
So far, more than 17,000 students have joined the scheme.
The scheme has members from over 220 schools in 15 Dzongkhags, as of now. Students have to pay a registration fee of Nu 100 to enroll for the scheme. Each year, members have to pay a membership renewal fee of Nu 100.
29-year-old Phub Dorji, a university graduate conceived the idea while he was a college student.
“The financial institutions in the country don’t have such a scheme dedicated solely to the welfare of the students and their parents. We never got a chance to join such an initiative while we were students. It is either the parents or the students who have to bear the heart-wrenching consequences of the death of a family member, so to console the bereaved family, we handover them this modest contribution through the scheme,” he said.
Through the scheme, parents are given Nu 20,000 if their children die. Likewise, the family of a member student are provided Nu 10,000 if they lose their parents.
“In about a year since the scheme was launched, we could benefit 84 students who have lost their parents and 2 families with Nu 20,000 each when their children died,” Phub Dorji said.
“When my daughter died about a month ago, the money I received through the scheme benefitted me a lot in carrying out the funeral rites for her,” Kencho Wangdi, a beneficiary, said.
“Last year, one of our students lost his dad, we could immediately withdraw the money from the bank and hand it over to his family. The fact that students have to pay only Nu 100 annually for the scheme is very encouraging because, for Nu 100, we can’t buy anything significant, these days. It is a good idea to join the scheme because we have some sort of life insurance cover through the scheme for a year and we never know what’s going to happen to our students in 12-months time,” Jamtsho, the Principal of Wangduecholing Lower Secondary School, said.
Many students who haven’t joined the scheme before are now looking forward to signing up for it.
“I think the scheme will provide immeasurable support to those who are in need and those who will be in need. I want to be a part of the scheme and I like to encourage my friends to join it because I have seen people in need being benefitted in my school through the scheme,” Shekar Dadron, a student of Wangduecholing LSS, said.
“I saw the family of one of our late friends being benefitted through the scheme. Even if we can’t do good deeds to a large extent, the Nu 100 we contribute for the scheme would greatly benefit fellow students in our school and elsewhere. This has motivated me to join the scheme,” Ugyen Phuntsho, another student of Wangduecholing LSS, said.
The founders are now advocating and enrolling new members across the country. They have plans to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Education Ministry to establish the scheme a regular part of the school system.
Kipchu
