Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Sunday said a Joint Coordination Committee will be constituted for speedy disposal of grievances of pensioners in Himachal Pradesh.

Addressing a meeting of pensioners association at Palampur in Kangra district, he said effective steps would also be taken to constitute Pensioners Kalyan Board in the state.

“The present state government has provided financial benefits of Rs 5,000 crore to employees and pensioners of the state during the last two years and BJP governments have always maintained cordial relations with employees and pensioners.

Pensioners and employees were the backbone of the government as they play a vital role in effective implementation of policies and programs for the development of the state,” he added.

Thakur said today, Himachal has emerged as a model state for other hill states of the country and pensioners and employees have played a crucial role in this.

He said that appropriate steps would be taken to provide cashless medical facility to the employees and pensioners of the state.

The state government has launched Him Care scheme for families not covered under Ayushman Bharat scheme of the Government of India. It provides for free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh per family.

So far, about 45,282 patients have availed the facility of this scheme and Rs 51.33 crore have been spent till now.

Rs 100 crore have been spent for treatment of more than one lakh people under Ayushman Bharat and Him Care in the state, besides this, Rs40 crore have been spent under Chief Minister relief fund for providing free medical treatment facility to poor.

“A provision of providing Rs 2,000 per month has been made under Sahara Yojana to provide relief and care to economically week families suffering from serious diseases like cancer, epilepsy etc,” he said.

Chief Minister said that state contribution under New Pension Scheme has been enhanced to 14 per cent from 10 per cent benefitting about 80,000 employees.

Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur said The Centre government was taking effective steps for resolving the problems of pensioners. The Centre government has taken various steps for the welfare of all sections of the society. He said that a meeting would be organized at New Delhi for resolving the problems of Pensioners Mahasangh.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Vipin Singh Parmar said that present state government has completed two years on 27 December, 2019 and these two years had been dedicated to the good governance and overall development.

“Union Home Minister Amit Shah and National Executive President of BJP JP Nadda have also appreciated the efforts of state government for various programmes and schemes which were being implemented in the state during the last 2 years,” he added.