Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, through the Chief Minister's Office of Uttar Pradesh, launched the Mukhyamantri Shikshak Cashless Chikitsa Yojana (Chief Minister Teacher Cashless Medical Scheme) in Varanasi on Wednesday, 8 July 2026, extending cashless health coverage to 12 lakh teachers and non-teaching staff along with their dependents across the state.

The official post from the Chief Minister's Office stated: 'Shikshak sashakt, vidyarthi samarth — shiksha se samridh Uttar Pradesh' ('Empowered teachers, capable students — Uttar Pradesh enriched through education'), framing the day's announcements as part of a unified push to strengthen the state's education ecosystem.

What was launched

At the Varanasi event, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath presided over multiple simultaneous announcements. The centrepiece was the formal launch of the cashless medical scheme, which brings 12 lakh teaching and non-teaching employees and their family members under a state-funded health security umbrella. Separately, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with State Bank of India to extend social security coverage to 10 lakh teachers and contractual workers in the education department.

In addition, ₹1,200 per student was transferred directly to the bank accounts of parents of 1.10 crore students via the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism. The simultaneous transfer to over a crore accounts underscores the scale of the state's digital delivery infrastructure.

Policy backdrop

The Mukhyamantri Shikshak Cashless Chikitsa Yojana is the latest in a series of welfare measures the Uttar Pradesh government has rolled out for its education workforce since 2017. The state has consistently used DBT to route benefits directly to beneficiaries, reducing intermediary leakage and improving transparency. The partnership with State Bank of India — India's largest public sector bank — follows a model the state has used across multiple departments to operationalise social security at scale.

The recognition of school principals and headteachers for cleanliness and green practices aligns with the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar, instituted by the Union Ministry of Education in 2016 to incentivise hygiene, sanitation, and environmental responsibility at the school level. Schools selected at the national level were honoured at the Varanasi ceremony.

Stakeholders and impact

The scheme's beneficiaries span a wide cross-section of the state's public education workforce. Teaching staff, non-teaching employees, and contractual workers — a group historically underserved by formal health and social security systems — are the primary recipients. The DBT transfer of ₹1,200 per student targets parents of children enrolled in state schools, providing direct financial support that can be used for educational expenses.

The SBI MoU is particularly significant for 10 lakh contractual workers, who typically fall outside the ambit of permanent government employee benefit schemes. The agreement is intended to bring them under a structured social security framework, though the precise terms and benefit caps of the MoU are subject to subsequent government orders.

What's next

Attention will now turn to the district-level rollout of the Mukhyamantri Shikshak Cashless Chikitsa Yojana and the operationalisation of the SBI social security MoU, including enrolment procedures for contractual staff. The speed and reach of implementation across Uttar Pradesh's 75 districts will determine whether the announced scale — covering over a crore students' families and 12 lakh employees — translates into on-ground impact. The state's use of DBT infrastructure and a public-sector banking partner suggests a framework designed for rapid deployment, but district-wise absorption capacity will be the key variable to watch.