ITANAGAR, 30 Dec: The Arunachal Pradesh Employees Welfare Federation (APEWF) has appealed to the chief minister to revoke the government order regarding restrictions on medical reimbursement, in the larger interest of the state government employees.
The federation in a memorandum to the CM on Tuesday sought restoration of medical reimbursement, saying that “the restoration of medical reimbursement, coupled with the eventual consideration of CEA and TPA, is vital for the financial security and morale of state employees. These benefits are not merely ‘perks’ but essential tools to help the workforce meet the rising cost of living.”
Placing its grievances before the CM, the federation, while commending the state’s efforts toward modernisation of the healthcare system, said that restrictions on medical reimbursement vide Govt Order No FIN/MR/10/7/2013 PT have created significant financial hardships for the workforce.
“We acknowledge the transformative impact of the CM and PM health card schemes. However, these facilities are primarily designed for ‘catastrophic health failures’ or critical illnesses such as liver transplants, HIV, TB, and cancer,” the memorandum said.
The federation said that government’s servants and their dependants undergoing minor or routine treatments at government or private hospitals are currently unable to claim expenses, even when such treatments are medically necessary.
Unlike for central government employees, the Government of Arunachal Pradesh does not currently provide children education allowance (CEA) or transport allowance (TPA). Consequently, employees must fund these essential costs from their basic salary, the memorandum said.
It further said that, with the escalating market prices and the high cost of living in the state, the absence of medical reimbursement and other admissible allowances has made it nearly impossible for employees to maintain any form of personal savings.
In another memorandum to CM, the federation demanded revocation of the 2005 LTC Rules and the restoration of ‘anywhere in India’ leave travel concession.
It appealed to the CM to facilitate the provision for visiting ‘anywhere in India’ once in a four-year block, bringing the employees at par with their counterparts in other states and the central government.
In a separate memorandum to the CM, the federation also sought enhancement of the retirement age of regular employees and creation of a separate cadre post of secretary for departmental officers.
The federation said that several states, including Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana, have already increased retirement age from 60 to 62 or 65 years for specific categories.
“In Arunachal Pradesh, while the retirement age for doctors has been increased to 62 and university/college faculty to 65, other critical sectors remain at 60,” the federation said, and proposed revision of the retirement age under various categories of service to ensure parity and maximise human resource utility.
Regarding the proposal for creation of a separate cadre post of secretary, the federation said that “a dedicated, localised bureaucracy is crucial for the state to achieve its development goals and ensure that administration is responsive to the specific needs of our people.”
Meanwhile, the federation in a representation to the chief secretary reiterated its demand for release of children education allowance (CEA) and transport allowance (TA).
Reminding the CS of its earlier memorandum, the federation appealed to him to immediately release the allowances.
