ICAR-IARI (ADMN) PENSIONERS’ WELFARE ASSOCIATION AN AFFILIATE OF BPS WRITES
ICAR-IARI (ADMN) PENSIONERS’ WELFARE ASSOCIATION AN AFFILIATE OF BPS WRITES
To
Ms. Roli Singh, IAS
The Additional Secretary and Director General CGHS, and others
Subject: Glitches in the implementation of Health Management Information System developed by C-DAC for CGHS – Operational Guidelines and Transition Plan
Respected Ma’am / Sir,
Greetings of the day!!
We are pleased to inform you that we the retired personnel of administrative category of ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012 which is one of the Constituent Units of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - an Autonomous Organization under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi, have formed a common platform under the umbrella of “ICAR-IARI (Admin) Pensioners’ Welfare Association [Regd.]” and affiliated to Bharat Pensioners Samaj, New Delhi to make available an opportunity to the pensioners to meet and discuss their problems so that the same are taken up with the appropriate authorities/department/
As per recent Office Memorandum F.No.44/103/MCTC/CGHS/2025/I/
We are writing to bring to your immediate attention the extremely critical situation that has arisen due to the abrupt transition of CGHS activities from the well-established NIC platform to the untested and flawed C-DAC HMIS mechanism. This has resulted in unprecedented chaos, causing immense hardship to beneficiaries and crippling the functioning of Wellness Centres (WCs) across the country.
We have never thought that C-DAC can be so incompetent. After migration on 28th April even though around one month has passed nothing works and it seems nobody in CGHS has got any idea as to what is happening. Very difficult to register, very difficult to indent medicines, nobody knows after how many days indented medicines will be received, no online booking of appointment, even though SMS received today to the effect that myCGHS 2.0 App is live by the grace of God no feature of the App is functional. Why not revert back to the old system so that there will be some relief to the suffering beneficiaries.
A healthy and satisfied workforce is essential for ensuring the efficiency, integrity and success of government operations. Therefore, we wish to highlight the following concerns and offer practical solutions that require your immediate attention.
1. Disruption in Services:
The sudden switching over to the C-DAC platform has led to a complete disruption in CGHS services, leaving beneficiaries without access to essential medical facilities.
2. Technical Glitches:
The C-DAC platform is plagued by technical issues, resulting in errors, delays, and inaccuracies in patient data, billing, and medical records.
3. Glitches in booking online appointment
The CGHS beneficiaries before the introduction of C-DAC system in early April, 25, Queue number was given even in case of online appointment. Now with the introduction of the new C-DAC system, the online appointment stands withdrawn because for Queue number, the online and offline patients, both are in the same Queue for visiting the Doctor. What is the use of online appointments if one has to stand in the queue for the number in the queue to meet the doctor. This may cause some anomaly inasmuch as that at certain Dispensaries where beneficiaries start forming queue from around 6 AM onward and by the time dispensary opens at 7.30 AM number of beneficiaries in the queue would have swelled to at least 50 and the turn for 50 to meet the doctor will be around 12 Noon. And the beneficiary who booked the 8 AM slot online will get the number in the queue much after 50 thereby making the time of appointment a mockery. Earlier online appointment was given for a particular time as also a number in the queue that too led to verbal duel between the beneficiaries as to whether to follow the time of appointment or number in the queue.
Yesterday a number of CGHS beneficiaries received an SMS saying that the new myCGHS 2.0 App developed by C-DAC is live and is fully functional for online appointments etc. But, still, the position is the same and they were unable to complete the process for online appointments as the message comes ‘unable to load user data’.
More importantly there is an urgent need for efficient programming of the system in computers, since the time taken by the doctor to repeat the medicines prescribed has increased manifolds after the computerised system of working in Dispensaries and power disruption and glitches in servers adds to the suffering.
4. Delay in supply of Indent Medicines
Earlier patients were given indent medicines on the third day after indent and now there is no time limit for supply of Indent Medicines. If the beneficiary asks the CMO I/c they give a simple reply that delay is due to change of software C-DAC and hence the patient remains without medicines for a number of days.
5. No system to allocate queue number to CGHS beneficiaries whose medicines are indented by the concerned CMO I/c Wellness Centre
Most of the CGHS beneficiaries after referral, visit their respective Wellness Centres to get the medicines issued as prescribed by the Specialist/s where beneficiaries start forming a queue from around 6 AM onward and by the time dispensary opens at 7.30 AM number of beneficiaries in the queue would have swelled to at least 50 or more and the turn after 50 becomes difficult to get the indented medicines till 1.50pm and they are forced to return to their homes without medicines.
6. Inability to Process Claims:
The new platform's inability to process claims has resulted in financial hardships for beneficiaries, who are being forced to bear out-of-pocket expenses.
7. Demotivated Staff:
The WC staff, who are struggling to cope with the flawed platform, are becoming increasingly demotivated, leading to a decline in the overall quality of services.
8. Compromised Data Security:
The C-DAC platform's vulnerability to cyber threats has raised serious concerns about the security and confidentiality of sensitive patient data.
Urgent Need for Intervention
In light of the above, we respectfully solicit your immediate intervention to:-
1. Address technical issues:
Direct the concerned authorities to urgently address the technical glitches and flaws in the C-DAC platform.
2. Provide adequate training:
Ensure that WC staff receive comprehensive training on the new platform to enable them to efficiently navigate its features.
We most humbly and respectfully request you to treat this matter with the utmost urgency, considering the far-reaching implications for the health and well-being of CGHS beneficiaries.
We are confident that your timely intervention will help to mitigate the current crisis and restore the smooth functioning of CGHS services.
Thank you in anticipation for an early favourable response and decision on the subject matter.
Yours sincerely,
Avinash Rajput
Comments