Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh addressing the NIS’ 57th anniversary session at Herdmanston Lodge.
The National Insurance Scheme (NIS) must not push around members of the public from one branch to another and deal with queries promptly, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh said Wednesday.
Crediting the architects of the formation of the NIS in 1969, three years after Guyana attained independence from Britain, he said the social security agency must aim to address issues at the office where persons turn up seeking assistance. “You are not to be rude and obnoxiousor unhelpful. You’re not to push people around and have them running….I can’t find your record, come back next week,” he said at an event to mark the NIS’ 57th anniversary.
The Finance Minister asked NIS staff members to imagine if they were pensioners of and claimants who were subjected to that kind of service or had experience to receive their salaries. Though he credited the NIS General Manager Holly Greaves with addressing those concerns, he said he wanted to see an end to such less than satisfactory quality of service. “It is not acceptable. Happily, like I said, even that kind of complainthas reduced significantly but it has not been eliminated completely.It has not been eliminated completely,” he said.
Dr Singh stressed that NIS was doing a good job, and referenced that that more than 60,000 NIS pensioners receive their pensions on time. At the same time, he said there was a small number of persons who was not doing so. “We mustn’t be upset about this because they are right to feel upset if they don’tget their benefits on time,” he said.
He publicly acknowledged that the NIS was processing the overwhelming majority of people’s transactionsefficiently and on time. The Finance Minister said President Irfaan Ali instructed him to instruct the NIS to provide sensitive, caring and compassionate service to everyone who approaches that social security agency for service. “I’m acknowledging that publicly and I’m congratulating you for thatpublicly but I’m saying in the same breath that even as you are to be commended for thedramatic reduction in the number of complaints we need to get to a point where they are eliminated,” he said.
The Finance Minister also reiterated the need for employees to constantly check their contribution records rather than wait until they are almost 60 years old and their past employers might have closed operations. Dr Singh also said employers had a duty to maintain records of their contributions on behalf of workers rather than trigger an investigation and possible prosecution. He also restated the need for the NIS to ensure and continue providing employers with statements at the end of each year showing all of the employees for whom and how manycontributions were made for them.
