Uttar Pradesh Cabinet approved a cashless medical treatment scheme for teachers and education staff under both the basic and secondary education departments. With the schemes approved on Thursday, the number of beneficiaries has reached nearly 15 lakh. The Cabinet gave a green signal to implement the cashless medical facility. It is a state-sponsored scheme.
Out of the overall 32 proposals placed before the Council of Ministers, 30 were approved while two were rejected,informed the Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna post-Cabinet meeting.
Basic Education Minister Sandeep Singh said that the scheme will cover 11,95,391 beneficiaries and entail an estimated expenditure of Rs 358.61 crore. Those covered include 4,34,426 teachers of the Basic Education Council, 13,380 teachers of government-aided junior high schools, 4,72,735 teachers of self-financed recognised schools under the council, 1,42,929 'Shiksha Mitras', 24,717 instructors of upper primary schools, 7,479 wardens and full-time and part-time teachers of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, 97,344 cooks under the PM Poshan scheme, and 2,00,581 special educators.
The teachers would go through a verification process before they are extended the cashless facility as beneficiaries. It will be a district-level verification mechanism to be put in place for teachers working in self-financed recognised schools to be verified by the committees headed by the District Inspector of Schools and the Basic Education Officer. A similar cashless medical scheme will also be extended to the teachers under the secondary education department.
Who is eligible?
Under the decision, teachers of non-government aided secondary schools and teachers working in government-funded secondary schools will be eligible for cashless treatment, he said. Khanna said around 2,97,579 teachers under the secondary education department will benefit from the scheme, with an estimated expenditure of about Rs 89.25 crore.
Secondary Education Minister Gulab Devi said the scheme will also cover teachers working on honorarium and their dependent family members. Beneficiaries will be entitled to cashless inpatient (IPD) treatment not only in government hospitals but also in empanelled private hospitals, she added.
Responding to queries, Singh said the basic education scheme is on the lines of the Ayushman Bharat health programme run by the health department, while Khanna asserted that the Cabinet decision ensures comprehensive healthcare coverage for teachers across the education sector.
He said that those among the beneficiaries who are already covered under any other state government-funded scheme, such as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana or the Chief Minister Jan Arogya Yojana, will not be eligible to avail benefits under this scheme.
The scheme was earlier announced by the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Teachers' Day for personnel associated with the basic education sector.
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