Govt to fund treatment of civil servants abroad

The government has eased norms and allowed bureaucrats and their dependent family members to get medical treatment abroad at state cost.

‘A member of the service shall be eligible to obtain medical treatment outside India or, as the case maybe, to claim reimbursement of the cost of medical treatment obtained inside or outside India,’ the circular said. An IAS, IPS and IFoS officer may avail medical treatment outside India for himself or for a member of his family for complex or high-risk cardio-vascular surgery, bone marrow transplant and for complex medical and oncological disorders, such as leukaemia and neo-plastic conditions, said the new rules issued by Ministry of Personnel.

They may also get treatment abroad for complex high-risk cases in micro-vascular and neuro surgery and extremely complex ailments, the rules said. However, a screening committee will decide on recommending cases for treatment abroad.

An attendant of the member of services will also be entitled for to and fro airfare. ‘The scale of expenditure and the eligibility for treatment is identical to the scale of expenditure and the eligibility of an official of the Indian foreign service of the corresponding grade in the ministry of external affairs,’ according to the rules.