It is the duty of the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that State government employees who have retired are also given the same medical insurance cover as those who are currently in employment, and the government should foot the bill for those retired employees who have been affected by COVID-19, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.S. Alagiri demanded on Tuesday.
Mr. Alagiri said nearly 7.3 lakh State government employees are receiving pension. “Many of them who retired when they were 58 would have now crossed 60 years of age. They are all living in fear that they could get infected by COVID-19. The government deducts ₹350 per month from their monthly pension for their medical insurance and through this, they and their family members are eligible for getting ₹4 lakh medical insurance for four years after retirement. But, under this scheme, treatment for COVID-19 is not covered,” Mr. Alagiri said.
The TNCC president said due to this, if any of them get infected by the virus, the whole medical bill will have to be footed by them from their own funds. “This sort of discrimination in insurance provided to serving and retired employees cannot be accepted. The same scheme should apply to both categories,” he said.
Mr. Alagiri said the Chief Minister should take immediate action to ensure that retired employees’ testing fees for COVID-19 and their medical bills are covered under the retired employees insurance scheme and it is the duty of the government to pay for their medical expenses for COVID-19 treatment.
