Tamil Nadu CM Vijay raises health insurance coverage from ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Wednesday announced a five-fold increase in the annual coverage under the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme, raising the limit from ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh, news agency PTI reported.

Announcing a series of new initiatives aimed at strengthening the state's healthcare system, Vijay said access to medical treatment should be considered a fundamental right rather than a privilege.

The chief minister stressed that the government was working to eliminate barriers to quality healthcare and ensure that people can access medical treatment irrespective of their income or geographical location, PTI reported.

The enhanced insurance coverage is among the measures announced as part of the state's broader efforts to improve healthcare access and strengthen its medical infrastructure.

Apart from health insurance, Vijay also announced official vehicles and a monthly allowance to the MLAs to address public grievances in their respective constituencies.

Making an announcement under Rule 110 in the Assembly, he said the new support measures consisting of a vehicle and an allowance for the MLAs will help them travel across their constituencies to address public grievances and monitor government projects without depending on others, he said.

On Tuesday, the CM announced extending the maternity leave for its women employees for the birth of their third child from 12 weeks to 365 days, the same duration that they get for the first two children.

Currently, married women government employees with fewer than two surviving children are granted 365 days of maternity leave, while those with two or more surviving children receive up to 12 weeks of maternity leave, PTI reported.

During the demand for grants to his department, Minister for Human Resources Management, D Sarathkumar told the state Assembly, "Under these circumstances, as the Tamil Nadu government is a welfare-oriented administration prioritising social welfare and women's empowerment, the maternity leave currently provided for the third child of female government employees will be enhanced from 12 weeks to 365 days".

The original 90 days of maternity leave was raised to six months in 2011, nine months in 2016, and extended to one year (365 days) in July 2021 by the respective state governments of the day, led by the AIADMK and the DMK.