Telangana Government Deducts EHS Premiums Without Issuing Health Cards
The Telangana government has sparked widespread anger among its workforce by deducting a 1.5 percent premium from the salaries of government employees, doctors, healthcare staff, and teachers in Hyderabad and across the state for the Employees Health Scheme in May 2026. The deductions were implemented despite the government failing to set up the scheme's trust, issue operational guidelines, roll out health cards, or sign agreements with hospitals.
The unilateral salary deduction appeared in pay slips just before the State Formation Day celebrations scheduled for Tuesday, catching employees by surprise. According to staff and teachers' representatives, the state government did not provide any prior notification, issue official orders, or obtain consent before making the cuts.
The monthly deductions ranged from Rs 907 to Rs 3,750, depending on the employee's cadre and position. For households where both spouses are government employees, two separate premiums were deducted from their salaries.
Prior to the deductions, the government had directed employees to upload their family details. Only 1,07,926 out of 2,98,888 employees had uploaded their information by Saturday. Despite this, the premium was deducted from all employees, including those who had not yet uploaded their details.
Employees' union leaders have condemned the move, arguing that deducting money without following due legal processes and without employee consent violates legal protections. TS UTF president Chava Ravi and general secretary A Venkat stated that rushing the salary deductions without establishing the necessary health scheme framework has raised serious doubts among the staff.
TPTF additional state general secretary Muthyala Ravinder demanded that the state government immediately formulate and release the necessary guidelines for the EHS implementation. He also insisted that the deducted amounts be credited back to the employees' accounts until the guidelines are established. SGTU president K Mahipal Reddy warned that these unilateral decisions by the Finance department could cause embarrassment to the state government.
