Hyderabad: The Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Monday approved two major welfare initiatives for government employees and pensioners — a free comprehensive accident insurance policy and a cashless Employees Health Scheme (EHS). Information and public relations minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said these were model schemes, unprecedented in the country, aimed at the welfare, security and social protection of government employees and pensioners
He said the accident insurance scheme did not require government employees and pensioners to pay any premium. Employees who die in an accident will be provided an insurance compensation of ₹1.2 crore. In addition, a term insurance benefit of ₹10 lakh will be extended in case of natural death up to the age of 60 years.
The minister said the scheme, earlier introduced successfully for employees of Singareni and Transco, would be expanded to all government departments, corporations and public sector institutions. It would benefit 5.19 lakh regular government employees and 2.38 lakh pensioners — totalling 7.57. The police would be implemented through bankers in a manner that would not impose any financial burden either on employees or on the state government.
In another significant decision, the Cabinet approved the long-pending demand for a cashless Employees Health Scheme to ensure comprehensive healthcare security for government staff and pensioners. The scheme will cover 3.56 lakh regular employees, 2.88 lakh pensioners and their dependent family members, benefiting about 17.07 lakh people in total.
Under the EHS, beneficiaries will receive cashless medical treatment at government hospitals and 652 empanelled private hospitals. It will cover for 1,998 medical procedures, and each employee will be issued a digital health employee card for accessing services.
The scheme would be implemented through the Rajiv Aarogyasri Health Care Trust an employees would need to contribute 1.5 per cent of their basic pay towards the scheme, with the government providing an equal matching contribution. Employees are expected to contribute ₹528 crore annually, matched by another ₹528 crore from the state government, taking the total annual outlay of the scheme to ₹1,056 crore.
The Chief Minister reiterated that the government remained committed to prioritising employee welfare, health security and family protection. The Cabinet expressed satisfaction that the new schemes would provide confidence and financial security to government employees and pensioners while reinforcing the government’s commitment to their well-being.
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