Gujarat govt extends ‘government hospital’ status for three speciality centres

The Gujarat government has announced a major relief measure for lakhs of state government officers, employees and pensioners by amending the ‘Gujarat State Services (Medical Treatment) Rules, 2015’.

Under the amendment, all existing and future centres established by three major state-run super-speciality hospitals will now be treated as equivalent to government hospitals, as per the state government-issued letter.

The institutions covered under the decision are the U N Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre, the Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute–M P Shah Cancer Hospital, and the Institute of Kidney Disease and Research Centre (IKDRC), all based in Ahmedabad. 

Until now, only the main hospitals located in Ahmedabad were considered government-equivalent. With the inclusion of all their existing and future centres, medical treatment bills of government employees and pensioners at these facilities will be cleared without any financial limit.

The amendment also empowers Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDO and treasury officers) to directly clear medical bills, eliminating the need for employees and pensioners to seek approvals from Gandhinagar.

The decision, taken by the Health and Family Welfare Department and cleared by the General Administration and Finance departments, has been notified through a formal government resolution.