Call for visible reinvention of NIS issued by Minister Singh

Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, issued a call for a cultural change at the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), thus allowing the organisation to operate in a completely new mode.

The minister noted that government is fully cognisant of the effort the insurance company has been making in serving the nation. He stressed, however, that the same energy needs to be redoubled and become visible. Dr. Singh was at the time speaking at the Trainee Inspectors and Nurse/Sick Visitors graduation ceremony Thursday, at the NIS Sports Club Ground, Carifesta Avenue. “Everybody has to reinvent themselves in this period of rapid change, and the NIS that reinvents itself is more relevant to institutions like the NIS like anywhere else. You are a public institution, you serve the people of Guyana, you have the responsibility and obligation to provide the best of quality of service,” the minister noted.

Minister Singh reiterated that the new cohort of trainee inspectors and nurse/sick visitors must play an integral part of the transformation and reinvention of the Scheme, nothing that they are now ambassadors of the government. “I want you take this responsibility very seriously, not only from the standpoint of dealing with pensioners and claimants with compassion, but dealing with employers in a diligent and professional manner,” minister Singh said.

The finance minister noted that the agency needs to make sure every contributor receives a statement of contribution annually, while noting that the contributors themselves have a responsibility to inquire and uplift their document. Further, the Minister Singh pointed out that the administration has zero tolerance for employees in any sector who treat citizens with disrespect, contempt or lack of concerns.

The minister said that Guyana is rapidly becoming a nation of massive transformation; however, those changes are not confined to physical development. “New economic sectors are emerging, new infrastructure is being build out at an unprecedented pace, new services are being demanded and are being provided,” Minister Singh disclosed. Dr. Singh noted that it is unfair for Guyanese to boast about the revolution of the state, but have institutions still operating like they are “in the stone age or the ice age.” Every institution within the private and public sector is required to change with the same pace.