It has been decided by the government to extend the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP), insurance scheme for Health Care Workers Fighting COVID-19 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 ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP), insurance scheme for Health Care Workers Fighting COVID-19 has been extended for a further period of 180 days from April 19, 2022. Earlier the government had extended the PMGKP Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19 for one year from 24.04.2021.
The scheme covers loss of life due to COVID-19 and accidental death on account of COVID-19 related duty. In case of an eventuality, an amount of Rs 50 lakhs will be paid to the claimant of the insured person.
The scheme was originally launched last year, and policies under the scheme began from 30th March 2020. All government health centres, wellness centres and hospitals of Centre as well as States are covered under this scheme approximately 22 lakh health workers would be provided insurance cover to fight this pandemic.
Further, on account of the unprecedented situation, private hospital staff/retired/ volunteer/local urban bodies/contract/daily wage/ad-hoc/outsourced staff requisitioned by states/central hospitals/autonomous hospitals of central/states/UTs, AIIMS & Institute of National Importance (INI)/hospitals of Central Ministries specifically drafted for care of COVID-19 patients are also covered under the PMGKP.
Since the launch of the scheme, so far, 1905 claims of Health workers who died while being deployed for Covid related duties have been settled.
In order to cut down on delay in claims and to further streamline and simplify the processing of the insurance claims, it was 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 District Collector.
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, 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.