Finance Minister urges NIS to improve service quality

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, has called for improved quality of service from the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).

He was speaking on Tuesday during the ceremony to commemorate the Scheme’s 53rd anniversary.

While not discrediting the current work of the Scheme, Minister Singh highlighted the importance of the institution delivering quality service to all Guyanese.

“We have a longstanding obligation to serve the most vulnerable in our society in particular. And by particular, I mean in a compassionate manner, driven by the high ideals of public service. Nobody walking into an NIS office should be treated with disrespect or contempt,” he said.

The minister expressed admiration for the numerous hardworking and dedicated individuals working within the company. However, Dr Singh noted, “notwithstanding the progress that has been made by the scheme… much more remains to be done.”

Since the appointment of current chairman of the NIS Board of Directors, Ramesh Persaud, the Scheme has seen a significant reduction in backlogged claims, from over 14,000 to less than 1,000.

Further, Dr Singh  urged the NIS to re-implement  the previous practice of sending contribution statements to employers, to avoid difficulty finding contributions of employees when they are ready to register for their pensions.

NIS Training Officer, Dane Chesney, has assured that these suggestions will be immediately integrated into the NIS training module so that they become an intrinsic part of NIS.