It may be mentioned here that this decision of the Union Cabinet as per the following recommendations of the Group of Ministers:

(i) CGHS cards to 1258 PIB accredited journalists may be renewed at the rates determined by Cost Accounts Division, Department of Expenditure.

(ii) Arrears for past years may be recovered in three instalments.

(iii) CGHS cards of 337 family members of journalist already availing CGHS facility may not be withdrawn provided the contribution at the rate fixed is paid for each members of the family.

(iv) Beyond the 337 family member's presently availing CGHS facility, there should not be any further inclusion of family members of journalists.

(v) Subscriptions to be paid by the journalists every year may be as worked out by the Department of Expenditure on an annual basis; and

(vi) The insurance scheme that is being formulated by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare on the basis of the recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission may be offered to accredited journalists also.

Journalists accredited with the Press Information Bureau have been entitled to OPD facilities under CGHS and hospitalization only in Central Government hospitals, even though they are not entitled to the facility. The facility was intended only to the journalists and not to their family members. Even though only the journalists were entitled to CGHS facility, by mistake family members of a few journalists were also included in the card. 1258 journalists and 337 family members were availing CGHS facility.

Validity of CGHS cards of accredited journalists was extended from time to time after they paid their contribution of Rs.600 per annum, which was fixed during August 1994. Subsequent to that period, contributions to be made by Central Government servants/pensioners have been revised two times.

Cost Accounts Division of Department of Expenditure advised the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to review validation of CGHS cards issued to journalists on a 'Cost to Cost' basis, which was worked out at Rs.1,067/- per annum for the year 2004-05. As journalists resisted the increase in subscription rates, renewal of their cards was held up since March, 2008. Cards of those journalists were renewed who paid at the revised rates.

In addition, Cabinet has also recommended that an attempt should be made to bring a comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme which will also cover the journalists and their families.

The Press Association in a meeting today welcomed the decision but under protest.

It is worth mentioning here that the Press Association has been demanding for restoration of the CGHS facility to the PIB accredited journalist and their family members as was the caser earlier.

The Press Association delegates had met the Prime Minister and several other ministers of the Union Cabinet to restore the facility to journalists and their family members. It had written several letters and staged protest in support of this demand since the last two years.

The facility was partially restored only after the Press Association delegates held a meeting with the new Health Minister, Mr Ghulam Navi Azad recently. The Prime Minister formed a Group of Ministers on this issue which submitted this propasal in the Cabinet today and was subsequently approved.#