<P> Postal Life Insurance (PLI) was introduced on 1 February 1884 with the express approval of the Secretary of State (for India) to Her Majesty, the Queen Empress of India . It was essentially a welfare scheme for the benefit of Postal employees in 1884 and later extended to the employees of Telegraph Department in 1888 . In 1894, PLI extended insurance cover to female employees of P & T Department at a time when no other insurance company covered female lives . It is the oldest life insurer in this country . There was over 6.4 million policies active as on 31 March 2015 with a sum assured of ₹ 130,745 crore (US $20 billion). Premium income of PLI for the year 2014 - 15 was ₹ 6,053.2 crore (US $940 million). It covers employees of Central and State Governments, Central and State Public Sector Undertakings, Universities, Government aided Educational Institutions, Nationalized Banks, Local bodies, autonomous bodies, joint ventures having a minimum of 10% Govt. / PSU stake, credit co-operative societies etc. and staff of the Defence services and Para-Military forces . Apart from single insurance policies, Postal Life Insurance also manages a Group Insurance scheme for the Extra Departmental Employees (Gramin Dak Sevaks) of the Department of Posts . It was extended to all rural residents on 24 March 1995 . </P> <P> Policies for government employees include Santhosh (endowment assurance), Suraksha (whole - life assurance), Suvidha (convertible whole - life assurance), Sumangal (anticipated endowment policy) and Yugal Suraksha (joint life endowment assurance). India Post started Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) for rural public in 1995 . RPLI include Gram Santosh (endowment assurance), Gram Suraksha (whole - life assurance), Gram Suvidha (convertible whole - life assurance), Gram Sumangal (anticipated endowment assurance) and Gram Priya . </P> <P> The post office offers a number of savings plans, including Recurring Deposit Account, Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSA), National Savings Certificates (NSC), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), the Public Provident Fund, savings - bank accounts, monthly - income plans, senior - citizens' savings plans and time - deposit accounts . </P> <P> As on 31st March 2015, Post Office savings bank had a customer base of 330.3 million . It's vast network has been used to disburse payments under National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). </P>

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