Monitor News Bureau
Srinagar, Oct 10: The High Court on Wednesday sought the response from the state government following a petition challenging the recently introduced medi-claim health insurance scheme.
The group medi-claim health insurance scheme rolled out by Jammu and Kashmir government last month for employees, pensioners, and accredited journalists has been challenged in the High Court on the grounds that it has been done to a particular corporate company.
Gulbadin Ahmad Mir of Shopian through advocate Lone Altaf has submitted a petition claiming that it was introduced to benefit a particular insurance company.
“The said policy is introduced out of malice and of nepotism without bothering the welfare of the petitioner, therefore the impugned policy smells discretionary approach on part of respondents as such deserves to be quashed,” the petitioner has said.
Since the e-tendering is mandatory and every tender nowadays to give it vide publicity through online. However, the petitioner has claimed that it was not adopted in the instant case.
The government in September rolled out the group medi-claim health insurance scheme for employees, pensioners, and accredited journalists in the state.
The scheme has been made mandatory for government employees including employees of PSUs, autonomous bodies and universities while it will be optional for pensioners and other categories of employees and accredited journalists.
The petitioner has claimed that the contract has been awarded to the company, which has least presence in Jammu and Kashmir wherein the most of the stakeholders reside.
There are five lakh employees serving both in rural and urban areas. The main purpose and the object of the scheme was to provide and cater to the health needs of employees of JK.
“Unfortunately just two hospitals from Srinagar (not hospitals in strict sense as the same are just clinics) and 18 hospitals (most of them are just clinics) from Jammu have been empanelled and rest of the hospitals is out of state with most of them in southern and eastern India like in Telangana, Tamil Nadu Westbengal, which are practically inaccessible to the stakeholders,” the petitioner said.
The petitioner said that there should have been empanelled hospitals in every district headquarter.
Hearing the petition, Justice M K Hanjura has sought the response from the state government in a week. The case has been listed on October 17.
