: Procedural wrangles in clearing medical bills and the applications for interest-free loan provided to State government employees to tackle medical exigencies may be eased soon.
The government is reported to be considering proposals to decentralise the multi-tier clearance system in vogue and making it advantageous to the nearly 5 lakh employees who now have to wait for long to get their claims reimbursed in time. As per rules, heads of departments are authorised to clear only medical bills up to Rs.12,000 and claims above this limit are forwarded to the Secretariat.
Designated officers at the Secretariat have to check the veracity of the claims and send it to the Director of Health Services or the District Medical Officer concerned for their endorsement. Scores of files get bogged down in the procedures. It was in this context that a proposal has been put forward to decentralise the clearance mechanism and delegating powers to the district authorities or heads of departments for expediting the payments.
Same is true in the case of processing applications to provide interest-free loans to employees to meet medical emergencies. Employees who intend to avail themselves of the benefit now have to furnish an application with a medical certificate to the Head of Department. Since the Heads of Departments do not reserve any powers to clear such applications, they forward it to the Secretariat for the approval of the Minister concerned as well as the Health and Finance Ministers, which are mandatory.
Getting approvals of the three Ministers in time is a tough task and now the proposal under consideration is to delegate the powers to the district or Heads of Departments. A similar proposal has been placed before the Chief Minister for decentralising the authority to sanction leave with allowance for more than four months.
The proposals have been mooted in line with the Left Democratic Front’s poll promise to decentralise governance to reduce procedural hassles that impede timely decision. If approved, this would reduce the workload at the Secretariat, reduce the pendency of files and also offer relief to the employees. A final call on the proposals would be made only after discussions at the higher echelons of government, sources said.
