Busua (W/R), May 16, GNA - The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has initiated programmes for technological improvement and to further enhance efficiency in its services to the general public.

Among the programmes being implemented are the accelerated development of computer infrastructure, integration of pension operations, students loan, records and benefits processing and adoption of automated fingerprinting system.

Mr. Kwasi Osei, Director General of SSNIT, said this at the opening of this year's operations conference of the Trust being attended by Departmental Managers and Area and Branch Managers at Busua on Monday. Mr Osei said 13 customer service desks have been established at some of its branches and that a SSNIT customer service charter would soon be introduced.

He said the vision to make SSNIT a world-class financial institution is "unshakable" and urged the workers to strive to make this vision a reality.

Mr. Osei mentioned housing, education and capital market development as some of the key sectors in which SSNIT had made significant contributions to enhance growth. He charged branch managers to ensure that a customer service standard outlined in the proposed customer service charter is attained, adding that, "satisfactory customer service is more or less a right rather than a privilege".

Mr. Osei reminded participants that the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme would make additional demands on SSNIT activities and urged them to brace up in order to implement the scheme smoothly.

He said 40 years of social security in the country was long enough for SSNIT to assess its impact on the Ghanaian society, and urged the participants to use the conference to discuss effective implementation of policies to ensure that "the conference does not become another series of talk shops".

Mrs Mabel Owusu Boakye, Takoradi Area Manager of SSNIT, called for bold investment in the Trust's operations and enough empowerment of branch managers to reduce their over dependency on SSNIT head office.