The Uttar Pradesh government cabinet on Thursday approved cashless medical treatment schemes for school teachers and staff of basic and secondary education departments, which will provide this facility to about 15 lakh beneficiaries across the state. Addressing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said that 32 proposals were placed before the Cabinet, out of which 30 were approved while two were put on hold.

In a press conference, Basic Education Minister Sandeep Singh said that the Cabinet has agreed to implement the cashless medical facility announced by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the employees associated with the basic education sector on Teacher’s Day. This scheme will cover 11,95,391 beneficiaries and it will cost an estimated Rs 358.61 crore.

This includes 4,34,426 teachers of Basic Education Council, 13,380 teachers of government-aided junior high schools, 4,72,735 teachers of self-financed recognized schools under the Council, 1,42,929 ‘Shiksha Mitras’, 24,717 instructors of upper primary schools, 7,479 wardens and full-time and part-time teachers of Kasturba Gandhi Girls’ Schools, under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Yojana. These include 97,344 cooks and 2,00,581 special teachers.

Sandeep Singh said that a verification mechanism will be set up at the district level for teachers working in self-financed recognized schools. Committees headed by District School Inspector and Basic Education Officer will verify the beneficiaries before providing cashless facility.

Khanna said that the Cabinet has also approved a similar cashless medical scheme for teachers under the Secondary Education Department. He said that under this decision, teachers of non-government aided secondary schools and teachers working in government funded secondary schools will be eligible for cashless treatment.

Teachers working on honorarium will also be included in the scheme

Secondary Education Minister Gulab Devi said that teachers working on honorarium and their dependent family members will also be included in this scheme. He further said that the beneficiaries will get treatment facilities not only in government hospitals but also in the In-Patient Department (IPD) of empaneled private hospitals. Khanna said that about 2,97,579 teachers under the Secondary Education Department will benefit from this scheme, on which the estimated expenditure will be around Rs 89.25 crore.