“Providing accessible and quality healthcare to every citizen of India is a priority of the government. To ensure this, expansion of CGHS facilities has become a focus area for the government so people can access quality healthcare wherever they live in the country.” This was said by Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare as he inaugurated the CGHS Wellness Centres in Chandigarh and Panchkula in the presence of Smt Kirron Kher, Member of Parliament, Chandigarh, and Shri Gian Chand Gupta, Member of Legislative Assembly from Panchkula, and Speaker in the Haryana Legislative Assembly. This makes Panchkula the 80th city with CGHS facilities fulfilling a long cherished demand of the employees and pensioners in the city.
Chandigarh already had a CGHS Wellness centre with 47000 registered beneficiaries. The opening of the 2nd Wellness Centre gives a big relief to the beneficiaries as the workload will be divided between the two wellness centres and the waiting time will reduce ensuring ease of living for the citizens.
Dr Mandaviya highlighted the Government’s focus on ensuring ease of living for the citizens of India. In this regard he said, “Pensioners shouldn’t have to struggle to access quality healthcare, the billing and reimbursement cycle has already been made much easier than the past, it will only become quicker and simpler going further.” He further said, “CGHS technology has been integrated with that of the National Health Authority, and with our aim to expand CGHS soon to 100 cities in India, people’s access to good quality healthcare in India will only increase.” Focusing on Modi government’s pro poor approach, he further said, “Ensuring that the poor have the same access to affordable and quality healthcare has always been a priority for the Modi government as evidenced by the success of Ayushman Bharat.”
The opening of these two wellness centres will go a long way in mitigating the hardships faced by pensioners residing not only in the Chandigarh-Panchkula-Mohali tricity area, but also in nearby areas of Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh.
With this launch, the coverage of CGHS cities has expanded from 25 cities in 2014 to 80 in 2023.