For this LIC agent, Covid means longer hours, journey on bike and boat

“Before Covid, people often ignored insurance. In the last few months, many are opting for life insurance and, sadly, there are many deaths, so many are getting claimed,” LIC agent Binda Rawat said.

On June 12, Binda Rawat took a boat from DND to meet with a family who had lost their daughter to Covid.(Express photo by Gajendra Yadav)

For LIC agent Binda Rawat (53), traveling across Delhi-NCR has been routine for the last 15 years. But a spurt in deaths because of Covid-19 these last few months has meant he works longer hours and covers 100 km on his bike on most days. And, in some cases, on a boat.

“Before Covid, people often ignored insurance. In the last few months, many are opting for life insurance and, sadly, there are many deaths, so many are getting claimed,” he said.

Binda Rawat takes a boat ride from DND. (Express Photo: Gajendra Yadav)

Earlier this month, he took a boat from DND to meet with a family who had lost their daughter to Covid. He said he was visiting an area called Jharoda Khader in Uttar Pradesh. “I often have to take the boat to get to that side. It’s the most convenient way. There are around 10-15 boats stationed near DND,” he said.

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The deceased, he said, was only 12, and had a family insurance policy.

His job was to speak to the family, verify the death, and take down the details. “It is my job and I am used to it… like police verify details after a death, so do we.”

Most of his clients are in areas around Noida and Faridabad, while some stay in Delhi’s Shahdara.

His work has no fixed timings, he said. He usually starts the day at 7 am and reaches home to a rented apartment at Badarpur after 8 pm. His wife and three children, who are at their hometown at Janakpur on the Nepal border, worry about him sometimes since he often has to meet families who have lost a member to Covid. But he reassures them that he has received both doses of the vaccine and follows protocol.

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Rawat has been in Delhi since 1979, but said he visits his family in Nepal often.

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