Health cover for Punjab farmers

The co-operative department of the Punjab government, in co-ordination with ICICI Lombard, today announced a health insurance scheme "Sanjeevni" for the farmers of the state from January 14.

Under this plan, any farmer who is a member of the co-operative society can become a member of the scheme by paying an annual premium of Rs 300 only, according to the deputy registrar of cooperative societies, Randhir Singh Mann, here today. A farmer would be eligible to get free treatment for up to Rs 2 lakh, he said.

Even the dependants of the farmers would be entitled to get the benefit after paying the premium of Rs 30 per person, he added.

"In many other states of the country, the health insurance schemes are already working successfully under different names. Here we got a massive response--only in Ludhiana more than 14,000 families and more than 60,000 individuals have become members of the scheme," Mann said.

Under the scheme, farmers can get treatment from 150 private hospitals, which are charted out by the Punjab government, apart from the government hospitals.

"Farmers of the state are going through a severe economic crisis. In such conditions, the scheme would provide health security to peasants and their families," he said, adding that this is a cashless scheme under which the member would have to produce his identity card only, which would be issued by the cooperative department".