Raipur: Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to include police personnel, civic and rural body workers and officers and employees of district administrations in the Rs 50-lakh insurance coverage plan under the PM’s Garib Kalyan Yojana, which has been extended to each healthcare staff in line with a new ordinance for being in the front-line battling the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
Baghel congratulated PM Modi for bringing in the Epidemic Diseases Ordinance (Amendment), 2020, and cited that healthcare and police personnel and officers and employees of other state government-run departments must be included as intended beneficiaries of the scheme.
He welcomed the Modi government’s bid to provide insurance coverage of Rs 50 lakh each to a healthcare worker but reminded the PM that the scheme needs to be inclusive.
Baghel drew the PM’s attention towards the contribution of thousands of state government employees and officers, who worked tirelessly to make the nationwide restrictions, which were initially enforced for 21 days from March 25 and then further extended for another 19 days till May 3 to contain the spread of the (Covid-19) outbreak, a success.
He raised concerns about the state government employees, who have contracted SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease, while attending to Covid-19 patients, for their exclusion from the insurance coverage plan.
{{/usCountry}}He raised concerns about the state government employees, who have contracted SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease, while attending to Covid-19 patients, for their exclusion from the insurance coverage plan.
{{/usCountry}}The CM cited the definition of “healthcare service worker” as per the ordinance and pitched for broadening its scope to include more intended beneficiaries.
“The policemen, officers, and employees of local bodies and district administration must be included in this definition. Their tireless efforts are ensuring the containment of the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak. Benefits must be extended to these people and the central government must consider them as healthcare workers with immediate effect,” he argued.