Conceding to the demands of different employee associations on the Golden health cards, the Uttarakhand Government has separated the State Government Health Scheme (SGHS) of the state government employees from the umbrella of the Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana. Now the rates of the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) would be applicable in both the Out Patient Services (OPD) and the admitted patients under the CGHS. In an order, the secretary Health, Amit Sigh Negi said that the SGHS would function under the State Health Agency (SHA) and it would enlist only those hospitals in its panel who would provide all their facilities and super speciality services to the card holders.
The scheme would provide cashless and unlimited cover to the beneficiaries. Negi in his order also decided the contribution the employees and pensioners would make. The employees from pay band 1 to 5 would pay a sum of Rs 250 per month while a sum of Rs 450 would be charged from those who are in pay band VI.
Similarly a monthly sum of Rs 650 would be charged on the employees in pay band VII to XI and those in pay Band XII and above would have to pay a sum of Rs 1000 per month for the scheme. All the employee unions have expressed satisfaction with the Government Order (GO) on the SGHS. The spokesperson of Uttarakhand officers, employees and teachers coordination committee Pratap Panwar said that the association welcomes the government's decision on the golden cards. The president of the Uttarakhand secretariat association Deepak Joshi also expressed his happiness on the decision.