Sunil Lohan
O
n 06.01.2025,in the Conference Hall of Vidhana Soudha,the Chief Minister officially launched the “KSRTC Arogya”scheme.
In his address,the Chief Minister stated that this scheme is beneficial and urged the employees and their dependent family members to make the best use of it.
Our government is doing a great job for KSRTC employees.After the implementation of the Shakti scheme,gender inequality has been eliminated,and women have been financially empowered.
Addressing the doctors,the Chief Minister emphasized that the benefits of this scheme should not be viewed with any dismissive attitude and that all patients visiting hospitals should be treated equally.
On this occasion,Chairman handed over a cheque of Rs. 20 crores to the KSRTC Trust and also released the internal periodic “Saarige Sampada” magazine and the KSRTC Arogya Manual.
The Minister for Transport and Muzrai,speaking at the event,mentioned that around 34,000 employees and their dependents (approximately 1.5 lakh people) will be eligible for this scheme.
He also mentioned that agreements have been made with more than 275 hospitals across the state.He highlighted that this was the fulfilment of a demand raised by labour unions for many years.
He further stated that in the coming days, this scheme will also be implemented in organizations such as BMTC, NWKRTC, and KKRTC within the next three months. On this occasion, the heads of various hospitals also signed the agreements.
Employee Cashless Medical Treatment Scheme-KSRTC – AROGYA:
A corporation can progress only if every employee performing duties in the corporation has good health. There is no doubt that “health is fortune”. We strongly believe that, if the health of employee’s family is in good condition, an employee can perform better with a relaxed mindset.
Basically,we cannot deny that the transport profession is very demanding and there is an environment where the employees perform their duties under extreme pressure.Even though the corporation is already providing good healthcare facilities to its employees, it is our responsibility to provide more adequate healthcare facilities.
At present the corporation has adopted a medical reimbursement system as in Govt.Medical treatment expenses of employees and their spouse and dependent children and parents in recognized hospitals are being reimbursed at the rate of CGHS-2014.
Since medical reimbursement is as per CHGS-2014 rates, additional expenses have to be borne by the employees themselves and as it is a financial burden on the employees to pay upfront for the treatment, it has been a long-standing demand of the corporate workers and trade unions to provide completely cashless healthcare facility.
All the registered labour organizations of the Corporation have agreed to implement the “Participatory Scheme” by getting the participation of the employees so that financial burden on the organization is reduced for providing cashless healthcare facility.
A meeting was conveyed on 09.10.2024 under the chairmanship of Minister of Transport and Muzrai and in the presence of Hon’ble Chairman, KSRTC with all the registered trade unions of the Corporation.
Further,a meeting was held on 08.11.2024 with all the registered trade unions of the Corporation for the opinions/ suggestions on cashless medical treatment scheme from all the registered trade unions & same were considered while preparing the outline of cashless medical treatment scheme.
The new scheme was approved in the Board of Directors meeting held on 13.11.2024 under the chairmanship of Chairman KSRTC and same shall be launched by Hon’ble Chief Minister on 06.01.2025.
Outline of KSRTC AROGYA Cashless Treatment Scheme:
All 34,000 employees of the corporation are eligible for this scheme.
Employee and their dependents are covered under the scheme.
Eye and dental treatment expenses are also covered in the scheme.
There is no maximum amount fixed for inpatient treatment expenses.
Ayurvedic, Prakriti, Unani & Homeopathic treatments.
Initially MOU shall be with 275 hospitals and 4 Diagnostics Centers for IP/OPD cashless treatment as per CGHS-2014 rate list.
MOU will be entered into with the selected hospitals for a period of 3+1+1 years.
The total monthly income of father and mother should not exceed the prevailing minimum pension amount of Rs.13500 + DA.
An initial sum of Rs.20.00 crores will be paid from the Corpus fund by the Corporation to effectively implement the new “KSRTC Arogya” scheme. It is proposed to deduct Rs.650/- per month from the salaries of the officers and staff of the Corporation. In this connection “KSRTC Arogya” Trust has been constituted with trustees of the main committee and two female and two male employees.
A sum of Rs.650/- per month has been deducted from the salaries of the officers and staff of the Corporation. In the subsequent year, the contribution of each employee will be increased by Rs.50/- every year and this facility is also being provided to the training employees, from whom no contribution will be deducted. A separate health card will be issued to all the employees.
The corporation will set aside Rs.20 crore for the scheme every year and the levy will be increased at the rate of 5% every year.
Contribution deductions in the employee’s salary started w.e.f Dec-2024.
Only items not in CGHS-2014 rate list will be paid by employees Ex: Consumables.
The corporation will pay the amount of treatment cost to the hospital within 30 days.
In case of IP/OPD treatment in other hospitals, the reimbursement will continue as per existing system.
All details of employees and their families are recorded in “Sarige Mitra” (HRMS).
Hospitals are identified in the following locations.
Bengaluru,Ramanagara,Tumakuru,Kolar,Chikkaballapur, Mysuru,Mandya,Chamarajanagar,Hassan, Chikkamagaluru,Mangalore,Puttur,Davangere,Shimoga, Chitradurga,Kalaburgi,Yadagiri,Raichur,Bidar,Koppala, Bellary,Vijayapur,Hospet,Belgaum,Hubli,Dharwad, Karwar, Shirasi,Bagalkote,Gadag,Chikkodi,Haveri.
KSRTC in collaboration with Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology Science and Research is conducting Ten types of cardiac medical check-ups for all employees and officers of Corporation.
Earlier MoU was signed with Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology and Research on 02-11-2023 for a period of 5 years. About 21,000 employees aged 40 years and above have been allowed free health check-up.
The corporation will pay Rs 2.55 crore annually and so far 11828 employees have been subjected to cardiac tests. Due to cardiac tests, the number of death cases due to cardiac related disease has decreased from 40.74% to 7.69%. 41 persons have been installed with stents and 7 persons suffering from serious heart health related diseases have undergone open heart surgery.
Chairman,KSRTC and MLA Gubbi constituency, in the event stated that the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) provides transportation services to 34.92 lakh passengers daily by operating 8,849 vehicles in 8,068 schedules, covering 28.50 lakh kilometres.Of these,17% of the services are dedicated to students and Karnataka holds the first position among all state transport Corporations in the country, with a fleet of 24,282 state transport buses, signifying the empowerment of state road transport services.
Our Government has approved addition of 5,800 new buses to the state transport Corporations,of which 4301 buses have been added across four Corporations in the last year.
The Government has also granted permission for the recruitment of 9,000 posts across four Corporations.Till date 2144 drivers,conductors, and technical staff have been recruited.The recruitment process for 6856 positions will be completed soon.
Under the Shakti Scheme,363 crore women have travelled on Karnataka State transport vehicles, with a zero-ticket value of ₹8782.39 crore. The proportion of women passengers stands at 58.10%.
Prior to the implementation of the Shakti Scheme, an average of 82.51 Lakh passengers travelled daily on vehicles of the four Corporations, which has now increased to 108.09 Lakh.
Before the implementation of the Shakti Scheme, the number of trips operated daily across four Corporations was 1,54,955 which has increased to 1,74,908 resulting in an addition of 19,953 trips per day.
During last year 1004 dependants of deceased employees are appointed on compassionate grounds.
Sarige Suraksha Rs.1 Crore Accident Insurance Relief Scheme:
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation,with an intention to provide financial security to the dependents of its employees, has implemented an Accident Insurance Relief Scheme of providing Rs.1 crore Accident Relief amount to the dependents of employees, who die in an accident while on duty or off-duty.
So far, Rs.1 crore has been distributed to the families of 22 employees, and today, a sum of ₹1 crore each is being given to the dependents of below mentioned 2 deceased employees.
In total, 24 families of employees have provided with Rs.24 crore compensation at Rs.1 crore each as accident relief.
Employee Family Welfare Relief Scheme:
Recognizing the increase in number of deaths among employees due to heart attack, cancer, stroke, etc., and considering the hardships faced by the dependents of such employees and in response to the demands from various labour organizations with an intent of providing greater financial assistance to the affected families.
The Corporation has increased the relief amount from ₹3 lakhs to ₹10 lakhs under the Employee Family Welfare Scheme for deaths occurring after 01.11.2023.
Under this revised relief scheme so far Rs.10 lakhs have been awarded in 81 cases, and today Rs.10 lakhs each has been distributed to the families of 13 more deceased employees and so far 94 employees have been provided Rs.9.40 crore compensation.
Bus Refurbishing:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Corporation faced severe financial constraints as it was unable to operate all its vehicles.
When demand for passenger transport increased post-COVID, the Corporation was not in a position to induct new vehicles and devised a plan to refurbish old vehicles with body repair that had covered 9 to 10 lakh Kms have been taken up at the 2 Regional workshops of the Corporation.
These refurbished vehicles have been well-received by passengers and appear as attractive as new vehicles, leading to the expansion of this refurbishing work at all divisions.
Till date, totalling 1227 vehicles, have been refurbished. Similarly, 6 reputed air-conditioned vehicles which have been in operation for 10 to 11 years are also being refurbished recently.
Passenger-Friendly Year Declared for 2024:
The Corporation has declared 2024 as passenger friendly year. Rs.3 lakh accident relief compensation which was given earlier to the dependants of the deceased passengers who died in accidents has increased to Rs.10 Lakhs w.e.f 01-01-2024.
Smart Electronic Ticketing System
To ensure maximum travel convenience, comfort, safety, and familiarity for passengers,the KSRTC has introduced a user-friendly ticketing system. In response to long-standing public demand for digital payments for ticket purchases, the Corporation has activated digital payment options during ticket and pass distribution, implementing smart electronic ticketing machines and software.
These devices operate on 4G/Wi-Fi and transmit real-time ticket information to a centralized server.They include RFID readers that support QR codes and various digital payment methods like UPI,debit and credit cards. The Dynamic QR code system has been introduced as the first of its kind in South India.
”Saarige Vidya Chethana’’ Scholarship Initiative:
Under the ‘Saarige Vidya Chethana’ initiative, scholarships are being provided to the children of KSRTC staff under the education assistance fund. Scholarships worth ₹2.51 crore have been awarded to 5052 beneficiaries for the academic years 2023-24 and 2024-25, and this initiative is in progress.
Awards received by the Corporation:
112 national and international awards have been received by the State Road Transport Corporations during the last one year.
Dr.Shalini Rajneesh,Chief Secretary,Government of Karnataka,Ashok Mahadevappa Pattana,Government Chief Whip,Mrs.Nayana Mottamma,MLA,Mudigere constituency,Mohammad Rizwan Nawab,Vice Chairman of KSRTC,Secretary,Transport Department,Managing Director,KSRTC,Managing Director,BMTC, Director (P&V), union leaders,officers and staffs were present on this occasion.
