HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Aug 26: The Assam government will soon launch the Mukhya Mantri Lok Sevak Arogya Yojana to provide healthcare facilities to state government employees, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday.
Sarma announced this while addressing the 38th annual general meeting of the All Assam Karmachari Parishad held at the Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati on Saturday.
“We will launch the Mukhya Mantri Lok Sevak Arogya Yojana on October 2. Under the newly instituted health scheme, medical expenses of government employees and their dependent family members will be reimbursed at a much faster process than it is at present,” said Himanta.
The government will bear 50 per cent of the premium cost of the particular scheme.
The chief minister also praised the Parishad for relentlessly working relentlessly for the interests of state government employees.
“The All Assam Karmachari Parishad has always been standing behind the Assamese community during difficult times such as the Asom Andolan (Assam Movement). As many as 68 employees of the Assam government had laid down their lives during that tumultuous period of the state’s history,” said Sarma.
Chief minister Sarma also credited all government employees for their sincere attempts at trying to resolve underlying issues and demands through the medium of dialogue. He said that during his tenure as the state’s minister of finance in 2003, he took many initiatives aimed at finding solutions to their problems. Steps were taken to ensure employees received their salaries on time, despite the state finances being in less than good state during that period.
“Assam is the first state in the country where government employees received a hike in dearness allowance at par with their central government counterparts. States such as West Bengal and many other states in Northeast do not pay their employees DA in the range paid by the central government,” Sarma added.
The chief minister further said that government schemes and policies such as Apun Ghar, Apun Bahan, etc., have been designed and formulated with the aim of achieving the overall welfare of all employees.
Tezpur MP Pallab Lochan Das, commissioner and secretary of medical education and research, Sidharth Singh, All Assam Karmachari Parishad president Dipen Sarma, president of Asom Sahitya Sabha Suryakanta Hazarika, president of reception committee of All Assam Karmachari Parishad Bashab Kalita along with other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.
