National 'suffocating' scheme (NSS)

National service secretariat is infact leaving service personnel angry with the just introduced day light robbery of GHC15 monthly deductions as insurance premiums on their meagre and pattry monthly allowance of GHC559 which is suffocating them to death.

The introduction of this suffocating monthly insurance premium is an affront to the service personnel's liberty. This is so because, no prior consultations or what so ever was made with these "supposed" beneficiaries before the compulsory introduction of these suffocating insurance.

Even the National Health Insurance Scheme is not compulsory but has given room for individuals to either join it or resort to a different Insurance cover of their choice. Even if it must be implemented people should be given the opportunity to choose.

Are we a democracy practicing people So how then do you make this compulsory? What happens to their contribution in the event no sickness or accident befalls them? Your guess is as good as mine.

It must also be noted that, service personnel working under any organization are entitled to any insurance provisions covering the said institution unless of course the service secretariat wants to tell us the service personnel are working in their own houses, then of course they won't be covered by the organizations insurance cover.

The next issue is how many people die during national service anyway? There is no scientific evidence on the number of service personnel who are peridically involved in varied levels of accidents and sickness to warrant such compulsory GHC15 monthly insurance cover.

If you claim to have "yielded" to the cries of service personnels over the years, why don't you make it a one time monthly premium to span over the whole period of their service? After all they are rendering a great deal of service to the nation anyway.

Moreso, in the era where our country is bedevilled with an over whelming incidence of youth unemployment, these youth are deprived of GHC180 out of the patry GHC6,780 they would have earned over the twelve month period of their service. The monies left are too small to start their own business assuming they would'nt spend anything from the said amount.

The service personnel would therefore be left in bewilderment after his service with nothing to rely on.

All in all, the insurance policy is a misplaced priority and as such the scheme managers should task themselves to concern themselves with pressing issues like accommodation for those posted to deprived areas.

The scheme can revise the insurance premium into a social security trust to recupe this funds to the service personnel at the end of their service will serve as a support to them till they are able to fully gain employment.