Transportation

Transportation comprises freight services together with supporting and auxiliary services, by all modes — rail, road, air and sea — for the movement of goods and the international carriage of passengers.

• Transport services are important to business because speed is of the essence in any transaction.
• Transportation removes the hindrance of place — it makes goods available to the consumer from the place of production.
• India needs to develop its transport system to match the economy's requirements: better roads of sufficient width and high quality, and improved ports (the few we have are congested).
• Both government and industry must be proactive, treating this service as a lifeline to business, because in sectors like agriculture and food there are massive losses of product during transportation and storage.

The book also presents, alongside this section, three supplementary boxes.

Box: Different Types of Insurance

• Health Insurance — a safeguard against rising medical costs; a contract in which the insurer provides specified health cover for an agreed premium (lump sum or instalments), usually by direct payment or reimbursement of illness/injury expenses. In India it exists mainly as the Mediclaim policy for an individual, group, association or corporate body.
• Motor Vehicle Insurance — a form of general insurance in which the owner's liability to compensate people killed or injured through the driver's negligence is passed on to the insurer. The premium rate is standardised.
• Burglary Insurance — insurance of property covering loss/damage to household goods, property and personal effects due to theft, larceny, burglary and house-breaking; the actual loss is compensated.
• Cattle Insurance — secures a sum to the assured on the death of animals (bulls, buffaloes, cows, heifers) from accident, disease or pregnancy; the insurer usually pays the excess on loss.
• Crop Insurance — provides financial support to farmers on crop failure due to drought or flood, covering risks to the production of rice, wheat, millets, oilseeds, pulses, etc.
• Sports Insurance — a comprehensive cover for amateur sportsmen (not professionals) for their equipment, personal effects, legal liability and personal-accident risks; it can extend to a named family member. Sports covered include angling, badminton, cricket, golf, lawn tennis, squash and the use of sporting guns.
• Amartya Sen Siksha Yojana — a General Insurance Company policy that secures the education of dependent children: if the insured parent/guardian dies or is permanently and totally disabled from an accident, the insurer indemnifies the student's covered education expenses up to the sum insured.
• Rajeswari Mahila Kalyan Bima Yojana — a policy designed to give relief to the family of an insured woman in case of her death or disablement from any accident, and death/disablement arising from problems specific to women.

Box: Social Security Schemes

• Atal Pension Yojana — for individuals aged 18–40, who contribute until age 60; acts as an investment for an old-age pension.
• Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana — accidental and disability cover of ₹2 lakh at a premium of ₹12 per year, open to any individual holding a savings account.
• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana — a savings account with no minimum balance; the RuPay ATM-cum-debit card carries in-built accident cover of ₹1,00,000 and life cover of ₹30,000; suited to economically weaker sections.
• Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana — a term-insurance cover of ₹2,00,000 to the dependents on the policyholder's death, at a premium of ₹330 per year, for any savings-account holder aged 18–70. …