The National Insurance Scheme

The genesis of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) can be said to have developed from 1954 when the British Colonial Office invited a British professor to investigate “possible measures of social security” for British Guiana residents.
By 1958, his proposals led to a 1963 report analyzing the setting up of a national pension scheme, which in turn led to government in 1964 considering obtaining expert assistance to implement an NIS Pension scheme.

According to the NIS website, in September 1965 Mr. Niall Mac Cabe, a permanent official of the I. L. O., spent four weeks in Guyana meeting representatives of employers and the Trade Unions, and had discussions with the ministers of labour and social security, finance and economic development, and government officers of different ministries, with the aim of establishing social security for workers.
The resulting 1966 Report was based on the standards of the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952) (no. 102). In the agreement with the Government of Guyana, the Director General of the I. L. O. appointed Mr. A. J. M. Petrie, Chief Executive Officer in the Edinburgh office of the Ministry of Social Security (at the time the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance) of the United Kingdom, to carry out this mission.
Mr. Petrie arrived in Guyana on July 5, 1966, and on November 22, 1966 the Cabinet considered the memorandum and agreed to the establishment of a national insurance scheme.
There were no parliamentary draftsmen available to assist in drafting legislation, and the expert made a rough draft of a general “enabling” bill. It was hoped that the passage of the Bill could be expedited, leaving the details of the Scheme to be dealt with by regulations. This Bill was presented on December 9 1966 to the Attorney General for his consideration.
Consultations with employers’ and workers’ organizations had produced a broad measure of agreement with the proposals but there were certain differences which kept recurring and it was decided that in order to reach agreement on the details of the Scheme, a working party should be set up immediately consisting of representatives of the government, and pending the appointment of the Board, the employers and unions.
On December 5, 1966, the minister of labour and social security made a public release of the proposals and issued a paper prepared by the expert, which outlined the Scheme in general terms. At the time he invited the employers’ organizations and Trade Union Council each to nominate three members to the working party.
Due to numerous difficulties, the scheme was not set up during Mr. Petrie’s mission, and further assistance had to be obtained from the I. L. O.; this resulted in the appointment of Mr F. B. Matthews. Except for periods of leave, Mr. Matthews was in Guyana from December 8 1968 to June 13 1971.
The scheme came into operation on September 29, 1969 eventually providing sickness, maternity, invalidity, Old Age, Survivor’s and funeral benefits.