Editorial: Mediclaim for employees
Last month the State Administrative Council (SAC) approved the extension of medical insurance scheme, which earlier covered only officer cadre, to non-gazetted employees of the state government.
The Cashless Medical Insurance facility would have brought benefits for approximately 3.5 lakh employees of the State Government.
The scheme was to be rolled out within one month by enrolling all non-gazetted employees. The SAC may also include employees working in PSUs, Universities, semi-governmental organizations, if they wish to avail the benefits of the Scheme.
Talking in totality the scheme would have covered around 20 lakh people in the state.
Under the proposed scheme, an employee along with five members of his or her family, would be covered for an amount of Rs 5.00 lakh cashless treatment across well known hospitals within and outside the state.
However, the announcement has not been implemented on ground leaving the employees and their families worried.
Regrettably this decision has not been honoured by the administration and the interests of lakhs of Government employees stand jeopardized. Besides, the administration has no intention of reviving the insurance scheme and not only that it has instructed the concerned quarters not to initiate the case till further orders.
Under the scheme that was in vogue till last year, five family members of a Government employee were included in the insurance scheme and in this way at least 20 lakh people of the State would be brought under insurance cover.
The SAC had noted that under the scheme an employee along with five members of his or her family would be covered for an amount of Rs 5 lakh cashless treatment across well known hospitals within and outside the State.
In this way, the decision of 20 lakh SAC was aimed at bringing persons comprising employees and their family members under Mediclaim Group Insurance Scheme, which is a very significant percentage of the entire population of Jammu and Kashmir.
The SAC had gone further ahead and recommended that for the convenience of the employees the Stamp Duty and Service Tax of Rs 30 crore which would have accrued to the State Exchequer annually was to be waived off with a view to reduce the burden of the premium payable by the employees. Even the liberty was given of paying the premium in 12 monthly installments.
None of these facilities is there at present and the revival of insurance scheme is in limbo. This is of great disadvantage to the Government employees and to the people of the State in general.
The government without wasting any time should realize that it is doing great injustice to the employees by deferring the revival of mediclaim insurance. The scheme, if already announced should be implemented without wasting any time.
KV Correspondent
