New Delhi: Following the complaints of red-tapism glitches delaying clearance of claims of the insurance under 'Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package' (PMGKP) for health workers fighting Covid-19, the government on Tuesday decided to tweak the claim disbursal process to cut down the delays. As per the new system for approval of claims, it would now be done by state governments at the level of district collector.
"In order to cut down on delays and to further streamline and simplify the processing of the insurance claims, it has been decided to start a new system for approval of claims as per which the due diligence will be done by state governments at the level of the district collector," the Union Health Ministry said in a statement.
"The district collector in each case will be certifying that the claim is in accordance with SoP of the scheme. On the basis of this certificate of the collector, the insurance company will approve and settle the claims within a period of 48 hours. Further, for the sake of uniformity and prompt disposal, the district collector will also do due diligence and certify the claims even in case of Central government hospitals/AIIMS/Railways etc," the Ministry said.
The Union government had already extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) insurance scheme for health workers fighting Covid-19 for one year with the effect from April 24 this year.
"Safety of the frontline healthcare providers remains the top priority of the Central government and therefore the Central government had revived this insurance policy for a period of one year so as to continue to provide the safety net to the dependents of health workers, who are deputed to take care of Covid-19 patients," the ministry said.
The PMGKP insurance scheme for health workers fighting Covid-19 was launched on March 30 last year initially for a period of 90 days to provide comprehensive personal accident cover of Rs 50 lakh to all healthcare providers. The scheme is being implemented through the New India Assurance Company (NIACL). The insurance policy has been extended twice so far.