+ Central Government Health Scheme Organisation under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Abbreviation CGHS Formed Country India Parent agency Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Budget (2025–26) Additional Secretary & Director General, CGHS Roli Singh (IAS) Joint Secretary, CGHS Dr. Manashvi Kumar (IAS) Director, CGHS Dr. Satheesh Y H (CHS)
Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) is a scheme for providing healthcare to the serving as well as the retired Central Government Employees and their family members. CGHS is functioning under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the officers of the Central Health Service (CHS) provide healthcare to the beneficiaries and handles the administration of the wellness centres located throughout India.
The Central Government Employees not residing in CGHS covered cities are entitled to medical care under Central Services (Medical Attendance) Rules.
History Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) was established on 1 July 1954. It was initially introduced in Delhi as the Contributory Health Service Scheme (CHSS) under the administrative control of the Directorate General of Health Services. Twenty-Second Report(1981-82) on Central Government Health Scheme pertaining to Ministry of Health and Family WelfareReport of the Contributory Health Service Scheme Assessment Committee, 1962 Initially there were 16 Dispensaries catering to 53,000 Government Employees and a total of 2,23,000 beneficiaries. Prior to CGHS, employees had to claim reimbursement of medical expenditure under Central Services (Medical Attendance) Rules. CGHS was introduced to provide a more comprehensive healthcare to the Central Government Employees and to make the system more efficient. The scheme was later extended to several other categories of officials, such as members of parliament, supreme court judges, etc.
Over the years, CGHS wellness centres were expanded to cover more and more cities throughout India.
Organogram
Beneficiaries Central government employees, serving as well as retired, and their family members are eligible for CGHS benefits. The serving employees should be residing in a CGHS covered city to be eligible to subscribe to CGHS scheme. For pensioners, this is not necessary. At the time of retirement, the pensioner can choose to avail either CGHS benefits or the Fixed Medical Allowance (FMA).
CGHS also have several other categories of beneficiaries, which were added over the years, such as Members of Parliament, Judges of Supreme Court and High Courts, employees of certain autonomous organisations covered under the scheme, Railway Board employees, etc.
Subscription A subscription amount is deducted from the Pay of the Central Government Employee every month for coverage under CGHS scheme. For Pensioners, either monthly payment or a one-time lifetime payment of subscription can be chosen at the time of retirement.https://mohfw.gov.in/sites/default/files/Revision%20of%20rates%20of%20subscription%20under%20Central%20Government.pdf +Monthly Contribution for availing CGHS facilitySl. No.Corresponding Levels in the Pay Matrix as per 7th CPCContribution (₹/ Month)1Level 1 - 52502Level 64503Level 7 - 116504Level 12 and above1000
CGHS covered cities Currently CGHS wellness centres are functioning in 80 cities all over India. +List of CGHS covered citiesSl. No.State / Union TerritoryPIB: CGHS Wellness CentresAdditional Director OfficeCGHS City1GujaratAhmedabadAhmedabad2Vadodara3Gandhinagar4KarnatakaBangaloreBengaluru5Mysuru6Madhya PradeshBhopalBhopal7Indore8JabalpurJabalpur9OdishaBhubaneswarBhubaneswar10Berhampur11Cuttack12Chandigarh (UT)ChandigarhChandigarh13Jammu & Kashmir (UT)Jammu14Srinagar15Himachal PradeshShimla16HaryanaAmbala17Panchkula18Sonipat19PunjabAmritsar20Jalandhar21Tamil NaduChennaiChennai22Coimbatore23Tiruchirapalli24Tirunelveli25Puducherry (UT)Puducherry26UttarakhandDehradunDehradun27Delhi-NCRDelhi-NCRDelhi-NCR (Delhi, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Noida, Gurgaon, Indirapuram, Sahibabad)28AssamGuwahatiGuwahati29Dibrugarh30Silchar31SikkimGangtok32MizoramAizwal33NagalandKohima34MeghalayaShillongShillong35TripuraAgartala36ManipurImphal37TelanganaHyderabadHyderabad38Andhra PradeshGuntur39Nellore40Rajahmundry41Vijayawada42Visakhapatnam43RajasthanJaipurJaipur44Jodhpur45Ajmer46Kota47West BengalKolkataKolkata (including Ishapore)48Siliguri (including Jalpaiguri)49Uttar PradeshAllahabad (Prayagraj)Prayagraj50Varanasi51KanpurKanpur52Gwalior53LucknowLucknow54Agra55Bareily56Gorakhpur57MeerutMeerut58Saharanpur59Moradabad60Aligarh61Baghpat62GoaMumbaiPanaji63MaharashtraMumbai64Nashik65PunePune66Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (Aurangabad)67NagpurNagpur68Chandrapur69ChhattisgarhRaipur70BiharPatnaPatna71Darbhanga72Gaya73Chhapra74Muzaffarpur75JharkhandRanchiRanchi76Dhanbad77KeralaThiruvananthapuramTrivandrum78Kozhikode79Kochi80Kannur
Functioning of the Wellness Centres
+CGHS OverviewDetailsTotal NumberCovered Cities81Wellness CentresAllopathic342AYUSH 113Poly-Clinics19Primary Card Holders16,67,777Beneficiaries46,86,949Medical Officers (sanctioned strength)1539Doctor to Beneficiary Ratio1:3045
The Wellness Centres are headed by Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in-charge and functions from Monday to Saturday 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM. The staff pattern is as per Staff Inspection Unit (SIU) norms based on workload, and a Medical Officer is expected to attend to 75 patients in 6 hours.22nd Estimates Committee Report on CGHS, 1982
Human resources The Medical Officers are recruited by the CHS Division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare through UPSC Combined Medical Services Examination.
Recruitment to other posts are through an "Integrated Recruitment System" where the CGHS organisation is divided into 9 zones in conformation with the regional offices of the Staff Selection Commission.
Services and benefits Through the wellness centres located at several cities across India, the beneficiaries can avail medical consultations and are provided medicines free of cost. Total number of beneficiaries are 47.44 lakhs. The beneficiaries requiring expert evaluation and hospitalisation are referred to hospitals known as Healthcare Organizations (HCOs) empaneled under CGHS. A total of 2486 private hospitals and diagnostic centres are empanelled under CGHS. In addition to Modern Medicine, the beneficiaries can also avail healthcare under Indian Systems of Medicine, such as Ayurveda, Unani, Sidha, Yoga and also Homeopathy.
Serving employees of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Pensioners, Members of Parliament, etc., are eligible for cashless treatment at the empaneled hospitals.
Challenges and reforms The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare noted in its report that a significant number of posts are vacant in CGHS Organisation to the tune of 2,023 positions (28.81% of sanctioned strength) and may lead to an undesirable doctor to beneficiaries ratio, increased patient waiting time and reduced quality of care. The Committee also noted that around 26% of the Wellness Centres are located in Delhi NCR region and the uneven distribution of these wellness centres in the nation restricts the accessibility of the beneficiaries to CGHS Services.
See also Central Health Service Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
References