TS Diwali gift to govt staff

Health cards to be issued; CM to inaugurate scheme today

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday announced Diwali bonanza for all government employees working in the state. The government announced that it would be issuing cash less health cards to employees from Wednesday. Around four lakh working staff and 2.43 lakh-retired employees stand to get benefitted by this decision. Rao would formally inaugurate this scheme which has been christened as ‘Employee Health Scheme.’

The employees met the Chief Minister at the Secretariat on Tuesday.

He told them health cards would enable them to avail of cashless treatment in hospitals. He said that unlike in the past, they need not pay a single penny from their pocket since government would even bear their share of the insurance money. Further, he announced that ceiling of Rs 2 lakh medical treatment per family per year would be done away with and henceforth the government would bear all medical expenses of its employees without any upper limit, he said.

On the occasion, Rao called upon them to work with dedication and more responsibility to ensure cash flows into government coffers without pilferages. They should discharge duties to enhance the prestige of the government, he said. Telangana employee unions celebrated the announcement and immensely thanked the Chief Minister for his generosity. while the Congress kept the issue pending for five long years, the TRS government took the decision within four months of coming to power, TGO leader Srinivas Goud and others said.