Central government officials are consistently pushing back against the mandatory integration of Aadhaar with their Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) cards, according to recent reports. This resistance persists despite official mandates, highlighting a disparity compared to the strict Aadhaar authentication required for ordinary citizens to access various welfare benefits.
A Dual Standard for Aadhaar Integration
While over 3,100 Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes and 360 public services demand Aadhaar-based authentication from the general populace, including daily wage earners, central government employees have maintained a voluntary status for their CGHS linkage. This stance is maintained even as the Press Information Bureau (PIB) promotes Aadhaar integration for its role in ensuring transparent and targeted delivery of services, and in eliminating duplicate or ineligible beneficiaries.
Repeated Mandates and Withdrawals
The government has made several attempts to mandate Aadhaar linking for CGHS beneficiaries, issuing office memoranda as early as June 2015. However, each directive has faced significant internal opposition, leading to its eventual withdrawal. The most recent instance occurred in July 2024, when a directive to link CGHS beneficiary IDs with Ayushman Bharat Health Account IDs (created via Aadhaar) was suspended "till further orders," effectively making compliance optional for civil servants.
Funding Model vs. Fraud Concerns
Bureaucrats often justify this exemption by arguing that CGHS operates as a contributory scheme, distinct from traditional welfare programs funded by DBT. Yet, records reveal that approximately 90 percent of CGHS expenditure is drawn directly from the Consolidated Fund of India, with employee contributions forming only a small fraction of the total annual cost. This funding structure, combined with the absence of annual verifications—unlike other federal services—raises concerns about potential fraud and unauthorized utilization. Pensioner cards, for example, generated in 2005, remain active without periodic identity checks, increasing the risk of ineligible dependents or deceased beneficiaries remaining on the rolls.
Lessons from Other Schemes
In contrast, other public sector medical frameworks, such as the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) and the Railway Health Scheme, have successfully implemented mandatory Aadhaar linkage. Consequently, CGHS maintains a significantly higher per capita expenditure compared to these schemes, a disparity that analysts suggest would widen further if unverified accounts were not purged from the system.
CGHS beneficiaries include a wide range of individuals: active and retired central government personnel, their family members, current and former Members of Parliament, sitting and retired judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, and accredited journalists based in Delhi.