The Minister of State for Mines, Steel and Labour and Employment, Shri Vishnu Deo Sai has said that under the ‘Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana’BPL families (a unit of five) in the unorganized sector are provided smart card based cashless health insurance cover of Rs.30,000/- per annum. The definition of BPL is the one prescribed by the Planning Commission.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today, Shri Vishnu Deo Sai has said that the beneficiaries are identified by the respective State/UT Government on the basis of the eligibility conditions prescribe under the scheme.

The Minister said that it is the endeavour of the Government to extend Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) to all unorganised workers in a phased manner. During the course of implementation, apart from BPL families, RSBY coverage has been extended to various other categories of unorganised workers viz. Building & Other Construction Workers, licensed Railway porters, Street Vendors, MGNREGA workers (who have worked for more than fifteen days during preceding financial year), Beedi workers, Domestic workers, Sanitation Workers, Mine Workers, Rickshaw pullers, Rag pickers and Auto/Taxi drivers.

He said that the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) is currently active in 26 States and Union Territories covering more than 3. 85 crore families. The State/UT wise list of beneficiaries is at Annexure-I.

Annexure-I

*Only Ranga Reddy district in Telangana.

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NSK/NN