Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay on Tuesday made a series of announcements in the Assembly under Rule 110, including a major expansion of the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme and a revision in Aavin’s milk procurement price.
Under the health insurance scheme, the annual ceiling for free treatment will be increased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh. The government also announced a 400-bed multi-specialty super-specialty hospital at Perambur in north Chennai at an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore.
As part of expanded services, medical and surgical care for transgender persons will be provided under the scheme at Chennai Stanley and seven government medical college hospitals in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Chengalpattu, Tiruvarur, Dharmapuri and Kanniyakumari. The government further said it will create additional student intake seats for nurses and medical staff in government medical colleges at a cost of Rs 351 crore, start seven new government nursing colleges with 660 BSc nursing seats, and add 6,098 more seats in existing nursing colleges and schools.
To address rising cancer cases, the Chief Minister’s Cancer Care Mission will be implemented at a cost of Rs 673 crore. An integrated cancer treatment block with 14 floors (including the ground floor) will be set up at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai at Rs 471 crore, while regional cancer centres will be established at medical college hospitals in Thanjavur, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Villupuram—starting with an Rs 84-crore centre at Madurai Rajaji Hospital.
On the dairy front, the Chief Minister announced that Aavin’s milk procurement price will be raised to Rs 41 per litre by increasing the procurement component by Re 1 and the state incentive by Rs 2. The revision from the existing Rs 38 per litre (in place since November 2022) is expected to cost the government an additional Rs 30 crore per month, or Rs 360 crore annually.
