PMC employees oppose move to deploy third party for health scheme benefits, threaten strike

Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) employees' union wrote to the health department chief demanding the civic body-run Comprehensive Health Scheme (CHS) which covers both current & retired employees and also former corporators and their family members, not be allowed to be run by a third party. They demanded the CHS be run by the PMC health department itself as earlier.

The union also demanded inclusion of family members of the female employees of PMC as well as those who joined the civic services after 2005.

In a letter to the chief of the health department, the PMC employees’ union have put forward various demands writting that, "Various medical bills submitted under the scheme are examined by medical officers as per prevailing tariff. However, the prevailing tariff is out of date and all those tariffs should be re-evaluated, some of the approved hospitals under the scheme are deliberately not providing facilities to municipal servants. Even in doing so, the administration in some hospitals keeps on asking for advance payment and so strict action should be taken in this regard. In the medical assistance scheme card of all female members of the municipal corporation, their entire family should be recorded."

The union also claimed that there is no pension for the servants who joined the service of Pune municipality after 2005. Therefore, they demanded the said employee be given all the benefits of the medical assistance scheme as before by paying the said amount to the treasury through currency while maintaining the deduction of 1 per cent as per their final pay slip.

The union also threatened to go on a strike if their demands are not met. A meeting on the same has been planned with the civic chief on the August 14.

Bapu Pawar, general secretary of the PMC employees union said, "After the meeting, we will decide on what can be done. The PMC health department intends to bring in an insurance company to cover our CHS benefits. No insurance company covers 100 per cent of the hospital bills and they have many clauses and exclusions in the policy which will not cover most of our ailments. This is why we are strongly opposing this move."

Dr Bhagwan Pawar, chief of the PMC public health department said, "We are looking into the demands of the union and we have planned a meeting with the municipal commissioner on August 14 when these issues will be looked into."

A total of 22,306 card holders, employees, both currently employed and retired and former corporators are part of the CHS scheme as of March 2023. In the year 2022-23, a total of Rs 54.45 crore has been spent through the PMC's treasury in paying bills under the CHS.