Late IAS officer Mahantesh Bilagi, who was initially appointed to service under the Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) and was later promoted to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
Minister Orders Circular, Cites Need to Protect Families from Technical and Administrative Oversights
Bengaluru, January 4: In the wake of a technical lapse that resulted in a reduced insurance payout to the family of a deceased IAS officer, the Karnataka Medical Education and Skill Development Department has decided to make term insurance mandatory for all doctors, officers and staff working under the department.
The decision follows the case of late IAS officer Mahantesh Bilagi, who was initially appointed to service under the Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) and was later promoted to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). After his promotion, the officer did not update his designation and salary details with his term insurance provider. As a result, following his recent death in a road accident, his family reportedly received an insurance payout nearly ₹50 lakh lower than what would have been admissible for an IAS officer.
The matter was discussed during a governing council meeting of a medical college on Saturday, where a senior Finance Department official flagged the issue and explained that the shortfall occurred due to the non-updation of service records with the insurance agency after promotion from KAS to IAS.
Taking serious note of the incident, Medical Education and Skill Development Minister Dr Sharanaprakash R. Patil directed Additional Chief Secretary Mohammed Mohsin to immediately issue a circular mandating term insurance enrolment aligned with current pay scale and designation for all employees of government medical colleges and hospitals.
The Minister observed that such oversights—often unintentional—can have devastating financial consequences for bereaved families. He noted that many government employees either under-insure themselves or fail to revise insurance details following promotions, pay revisions or cadre changes.
To prevent recurrence of such situations, Dr Patil also instructed senior officials to initiate discussions with leading banks and insurance companies to offer suitable, affordable term insurance schemes to department employees. The aim, he said, is to ensure that families receive their full and rightful insurance benefits in the event of an employee’s death.
The department has also been asked to examine whether similar insurance protection can be extended to contract and outsourced staff, many of whom remain vulnerable due to lack of formal social security cover.
Outsourced Staff May Be Absorbed into Contract Roles
In another employee-centric move, the Minister directed officials to explore the possibility of absorbing experienced and meritorious outsourced employees into contract posts, strictly adhering to the reservation roster.
Instead of repeatedly hiring new temporary staff, institutions have been advised to identify eligible outsourced personnel with proven service records and migrate them to contractual positions, ensuring stability, fairness and continuity in public healthcare institutions.
Officials said the recent incident has prompted the department to take a broader view of employee welfare, insurance literacy and administrative compliance, so that families are not made to suffer due to technical or procedural lapses.
ಇದನ್ನೂ ಓದಿ: ಐಎಎಸ್ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಯ ವಿಮಾ ಲೋಪದ ಬಳಿಕ ವೈದ್ಯಕೀಯ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ಇಲಾಖೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಟರ್ಮ್ ಇನ್ಶೂರೆನ್ಸ್ ಕಡ್ಡಾಯ
Also Read: IAS Officer Mahantesh Bilagi Dies in Horrific Car Crash on Kalaburagi–Vijayapura Highway; Overspeeding Suspected
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