THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024
Team Herald
panjim: The Goa Forward Party (GFP) on Friday demanded that the benefits of the medical insurance scheme- Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana (DDSSY) be once again extended to the government servants.
The scheme benefits were discontinued to the government employees from October 2019.
Addressing media persons, GFP’s Employees Forward Convener John Nazareth said that it was in September 2017, that the benefits of the scheme were extended to the government employees.
In this regard, Nazareth has also written to the Chief Secretary Parimal Rai seeking immediate relief.
He said the scheme provided an opportunity for the desiring government employees, who had opted for the scheme, to take treatment with specialized doctors in super-specialty hospitals for major illnesses.
“However, with the withdrawal of the benefit, the employees and their families are dependent on government hospitals for benefit under other medical schemes,” he added.
Nazareth said after the withdrawal of the scheme, the benefit of availing free treatment in private hospitals is mostly availed by migrants.
Meanwhile, in yet another demand, Nazareth said that the government should suspend the compulsion of biometric attendance for the servants until COVID pandemic is over.
“Soon after the outbreak of the disease, the Government had suspended biometric attendance recording in government offices, corporations and autonomous bodies and there were no complaints of any employee’s coming late but suspending the biometric attendance was found to be quite effective in controlling the spread of virus amongst the staff,” he said, while adding that he has written to the Chief Secretary on this.
