–Residents ask for exercise to be conducted at least once a year

RESIDENTS from Enmore to Hope on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) turned out in large numbers to have their National Insurance Scheme (NIS) matters resolved, during an outreach at the Enmore-Hope Primary School, on Saturday.

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, led the exercise.
The beneficiaries all praised the government for the initiative, noting that it brings service to the people.

In an invited comment, Teekaran Jainarine said the exercise was timely, especially for elderly persons who often have difficulties travelling to the NIS offices to query matters.
“Bringing the NIS to the communities is very convenient I must say, and for those who are scared and don’t know how to travel, for example, the elderly.

“For the other persons who don’t like congestion, I think it is very convenient…Oh, they have done a good job, a good job in bringing this exercise to the communities, the various communities. They have done a good job,” Jainarine said.

Rampaul Sukhdeo echoed the sentiments of Jainarine. He said the outreach is much appreciated, as many issues were resolved within minutes.
“Well, I think it’s a wonderful initiative. As you can see the amount of people here today [Saturday]. They’re here, all of them. They have their issues and with this initiative here, bringing it to the community instead of the office and so forth; it just helps to get the process along and speed the process along in terms of assisting people in getting their issues or whatever grievances they have resolved in a timely manner.

“So, I think it’s a wonderful initiative, and anything that [brings] benefits to people I think it’s a really great initiative… I would like to say thanks to the NIS that I’ve got my issues resolved this morning I’m very thankful for that and I’m very thankful to NIS…also extended to the government as well, because it’s an initiative that comes from the government,” Sukhdeo said.

Mohamed Hussein, an employee of GuySuCo, is another NIS client who left the venue satisfied that his matter was addressed. He commended the government for organising the outreach.
“This what the government is doing through the NIS board is very, very great. And this never happened for many years that workers can come and get the print-out of contributions and whatever, and I’m grateful for what happened here.

“I’m asking minister if this can happen like every six months or once a year. It could be great for the people of this country,” Hussein said.
Senior citizen, Indranee Baliran, was pleased that her grievance was addressed by Minister Singh.

Meanwhile, Dr. Singh said the NIS would be hosting similar outreaches across the country as part of the government’s wider plan to serve the citizenry.
“I’m very pleased with it. I’m very pleased with the manner in which the outreach has been executed. As you can see, the NIS staff bring a full team of staff with us, they are fully equipped with online connections to the NIS database.

“We are connected. You can check individual contributors record, you can print contribution statements, you know, so this is almost like a full-fledged NIS office. And we’re moving… this operation is moving from location to location,” he said.

As part of this programme, the NIS has already visited Regions Three and Six to address its clients’ concerns. (DPI)