CGHS Streamlines Medical Approvals: Additional Directors Empowered for STC-Related Cases
CGHS Decentralises Approval Process for Selected STC-Related Medical Cases
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department of Health & Family Welfare, has issued an Office Memorandum dated 1 September 2026 introducing a decentralised approval procedure for selected cases earlier handled through the Standing Technical Committee (STC) mechanism under CGHS. The move is aimed at streamlining the approval process and reducing the need for referral to the Directorate/STC.
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Five Categories Covered
The new procedure covers the following five categories:
- Category 1: Transplant cases having notified CGHS package rates or guidelines.
- Category 2: Listed procedures, devices and treatment items with notified CGHS rates or guidelines, including TAVI, DBS, IVL, cochlear implants, CPAP, BiPAP, oxygen concentrators and CSII pumps.
- Category 3: STC-restricted medicines included in the list displayed on the CGHS website.
- Category 4: Unlisted procedures, investigations, implants, medicines, devices and other treatments.
- Category 5: Robotic surgery for cancer cases.
Approval by Additional Director, CGHS
Under the revised arrangement, approval for cases falling under these categories will be accorded by the concerned Additional Director, CGHS, within the delegated financial powers and subject to prescribed conditions. No separate referral, permission or endorsement will be required when treatment is availed at AIIMS, Institutions of National Importance, Tata Memorial Hospital, or other Central or State Government medical institutions.
The case must be supported either by the recommendation, advice or prescription of one Government Specialist of the concerned specialty from the specified government institutions, or, where this is unavailable, by recommendations from two specialists of the concerned specialty from two different CGHS-empanelled hospitals. Every case must also be scrutinised by a three-member Local Technical Committee before approval.
For STC-restricted medicines, the approved indication will also be verified against the approval or regulatory status granted by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
Three-Member Local Technical Committee
As detailed in Annexure-I on page 4, the Local Technical Committee will be headed by the Additional Director and comprise two GDMOs, preferably having qualifications or experience in Medicine and/or Surgery. Complete medical, administrative and financial records are required to be placed before the Committee.
The Department has prescribed that deficiencies in documents should ordinarily be communicated within 3 working days, while a complete case should ordinarily be decided within 15 working days from receipt of complete documents.
Provision for Post-Facto Approval
The memorandum also provides for post-facto approval in emergencies, unavoidable circumstances, or situations where prior approval could not be obtained for reasons beyond the beneficiary's control. However, such cases will undergo the same scrutiny as prior-approval cases and will not be treated as an automatic entitlement.
Cases that are not covered by the five categories or that exceed the delegated financial powers of the Additional Director will continue to be referred to the Directorate.
The Office Memorandum further states that existing instructions requiring examination by the Standing Technical Committee will stand superseded and subsumed by this memorandum from the date of its issue. Detailed operational guidelines, monitoring and reporting requirements, digital functionality and standard formats will be issued separately by the Directorate.
Overall, the revised mechanism is intended to decentralise decision-making, streamline processing and enable quicker disposal of eligible CGHS medical cases at the Additional Director level while retaining technical scrutiny and financial controls.