Medical Health Scheme

[Brahmanandam Pratti]

This is ragrding Medical Health Scheme benefit in existence for the retired employee's of FCI. An amount of Rs.10,000 or one month basic pay+DA,  which ever higher is being recovered from the employees before their supernnauation towards subscription for Medical Health Scheme to extend benefit of reimbursement / direct payment for indoor treatment after retirment.

Eventhough the subscription is being recovered at different rates depending  on the last pay drawn i.e., ranging from 10,000 to 40,000 in the present scales, the reibursement being extended is the same for all the retirees i.e., 1,00,000 irrespective of the subscription recovered. It is not understood the reasonableness behind recovering subscription at different rates and extending benefit equally.

In my view instead of allowing the reimbursemt of 1,00,000 for all employees , it shall be more reasonable if the reimbursemt is 10 times of the subscription of the employee in other words if the subscription recovered is 20,000 the reimbursemt should be 2,00,000 per year and if it is 30,000 per year it should be 3,00,000 instead of present flat rate for all the employees as is being followed now.

I request FCIOA to examine and if found point please take up with the Management for the welfare of retired employees

 

Brahmanandam

[saikat ghosh]

The Medical Scheme for Retired employees is presently run on the principles of socialistist contributory benefit where the assumption is that the fund provided by all would be utilised to provide benefit for the actual requirements as and when they arise and not everyone would be claiming benefit simultaniously and that the newer employees would fund the needs of earlier retirees.

The amount to be paid to the fund has been fixed as per the paying capacity of the employees.

The deductions presently are made in two types. For employees who have joined FCI before 1999 it is optional and is equal to Rs. 10000 or last Basic and DA drawn. For employees joining after 1999 it is mandatory and deducted at a fixed amount every month (Rs.100 in most cases) from the first month of joining itself.

Even the post 1999 appointees can raise similar issues stating that when pre 1999 employees are required to pay only their last Basic & DA after completing their service life, that too on optional basis, they are being forced to mandatorily pay right from the very first month of joining, even though the scheme may not be in existence when they retire. They can also claim that most of the existing retired employees are taking benefit far higher than the amount they deposit and in effect, the scheme is being financed by the post 1999 recruitees.

The reimbursement of medical expenditure to the retired employees is not provided as a right but as a benefit, otherwise, the benefit would have to be restricted to the value of their contribution plus interest earned thereon, after deducting the amount already claimed as reimbursement earlier.

Saikat Ghosh

[FCI, District Office, Trichur]

THE SUGGESTION IS WORTH EXAMINING AND SUBMITTING TO THE MINISTRY FOR THEIR CONCURRENCE.