Sikkim govt to extend health insurance coverage to entire population
Sikkim Chief Minister P. S. Golay announced that his government is planning to extend universal health insurance coverage to the entire population of the state.
Golay, who also holds the finance portfolio, presented Sikkim's fiscal budget for 2021-2022 and said the health insurance for the 38,000-odd permanent government employees under the Su-Swastha Yojana would be extended in a phase-wise manner, to eventually cover the approximately 6.50 lakh population in the state.
“After we overcome the impact of the pandemic-triggered lockdown, we plan to extend insurance coverage to MR (muster roll), Adhoc, Contract and work charge employee(s) of Sikkim society with the ultimate objective of providing universal health insurance coverage to all in the State,” the chief minister said.
The Su-Swastha Yojana is the flagship programme of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha government launched earlier in the year. It aims to provide employees with access to qualitative cashless healthcare service at about 400 empanelled hospitals across the country.
Under the scheme, the beneficiaries — employees and their family members — will be eligible for an insurance cover of up to Rs 20 lakh against a monthly deposit of Rs 200.
Additionally, the chief minister also highlighted how the pandemic has adversely affected the state’s economy, particularly tourism.
Despite the setback, Golay said his government was determined to minimise the adverse impact, provide maximum possible relief to all the stakeholders and people in general.
“We are consistently making major strategies to revive and rebuild our economy. In fact, the economy had already started showing signs of recovery during the short period of August 2020 to March 2021,” he said.
(With inputs from The Telegraph online)
(Edited by Ridhika Joshi)
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