The Chief Minister Jan Arogya Yojana (CM-JAY) has been approved by the council of Ministers of the State cabinet in a recent meeting. Besides, the council of ministers also gave nod to recruitment for the Junior Physical Instructors post.
Tripura Tourism Minister Sushanta Chowdhury announced the decision at a press conference held at the Secretariat Press Conference Hall on Tuesday.
Speaking on the occasion, Chowdhury said that the scheme would provide cashless and paperless health insurance benefits to the patients. Each family covered under the scheme will be eligible for health insurance benefits up to Rs. 5 lakhs per year.
The Tourism Minister said that a total of 4.5 lakh families in Tripura are currently covered under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. The remaining 4.15 lakh families have not been able to get covered under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
The state government decided to launch the Chief Minister Jan Arogya Yojana on the lines of the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana to ensure health insurance services to these 4.15 lakh families.
The project was announced in the budget for the year 2023-24. A provision of Rs. 59 crore has also been made in the budget for this.
The smart cards that will be provided to the beneficiaries under this scheme will not need to be renewed every year. The Rs. 5 lakh for the beneficiary family will be automatically renewed from 1st April of each year.
The Chief Minister, along with members of the cabinet, MLAs and government officials of all levels will also be eligible for the scheme. However, in the case of government employees, Group A and B employees who are getting medical reimbursement will have to surrender it and Group C and Group D employees who are getting Rs. 6,000 per year as medical allowance will have to surrender it.
The Tourism Minister said that the 10,000 construction workers in the state who are covered under various insurance schemes under the Labor Department will not be covered under the Chief Minister Jan Arogya Yojana.
The state government will incur an annual expenditure of Rs. 104 crore for the implementation of this project.
Informing the media about other decisions of the cabinet, the Tourism Minister said that the State cabinet has approved the recruitment of 226 Junior Physical Instructors in the Directorate of Youth Affairs and Sports.
He also said, the Cachar Cancer Hospital Research and Institute in Silchar has requested land from the state government to set up a cancer hospital in Huriakhandi Mouza under Dharmanagar sub-division of North Tripura district.
The state cabinet has also decided in principle to provide land to the institution, Tourism Minister Sushanta Chowdhury said at the press conference.