Chandigarh, Jun 9 (IANS): Providing accessible and quality healthcare to every citizen of the country is a priority of the government, said Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya, on Friday as he inaugurated CGHS wellness centres in Chandigarh and Panchkula.
To ensure this, he said, expansion of Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) facilities has become a focus area for the government so that people can access quality healthcare from anywhere in the country.
Chandigarh's BJP MP Kirron Kher, and Haryana Assembly speaker Gian Chand Gupta were among those present on the occasion.
With this inauguration, Panchkula became the 80th city with CGHS facility, fulfilling a long demand of the employees and pensioners.
Chandigarh already had a CGHS wellness centre with 47,000 registered beneficiaries. The opening of the second centre gives a big relief to the beneficiaries as the workload will be divided between the two centres, reducing waiting time for the citizens, an official statement said.
Mandaviya also highlighted the government's focus on ensuring ease of living for the citizens of the country.
"Pensioners shouldn't struggle to access quality healthcare. The billing and reimbursement cycle has already been made much easier than the past, and it will only become quicker and simpler going further," he said.
The minister said, "The CGHS technology has been integrated with that of the National Health Authority, and with our aim to expand CGHS soon to 100 cities, people's access to quality healthcare will only increase."
"Ensuring that the poor have access to affordable and quality healthcare has always been a priority for the (Narendra) Modi government as evidenced by the success of Ayushman Bharat," Mandaviya added.
The opening of these two wellness centres will go a long way in mitigating the hardships faced by the 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 in 2014 to 80 in 2023.