Hyderabad: The state govt on Saturday extended the health card facility under its flagship Rajiv Aarogyasri health insurance scheme to 2,215 orphans, semi-orphans, and children under the below poverty line (BPL) category residing at the Child Care Institutions (CCI) in the city. The initiative aims to eliminate financial barriers for these children and ensure timely access to quality healthcare. It is also expected to improve survival and recovery rates among them during serious medical conditions. The new initiative will provide healthcare access to a total of 1,857 children from govt and private CCIs, 293 from service homes, and 65 from collegiate homes. Of the 2,215 children, there are 1,545 girls and 670 boys. While 641 are orphans, 1,103 are semi-orphans with one parent, and 471 are from the BPL category. Among the beneficiaries, there are some differently-abled children as well. The beneficiaries will receive cashless treatments up to 10 lakh for over 1,835 crucial treatments and will have access to over 90 empanelled govt and private hospitals. Under the process, which started on Saturday, a new ‘orphan card’ option was introduced under the eligibility criteria on the Aarogyasri patient registration portal. Each child’s Aadhar card was linked to the Aarogyasri cards to access the treatment. On the occasion, women and child welfare minister D Seethakka and transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar distributed the cards among the children and had lunch with them. Seethakka said that it was the responsibility of the district administrations to support the children who lose their parents due to a tragedy or some other reason. She added that the govt will provide 4,500 per month to anyone who helps and takes care of the orphans. Hyderabad district collector Anudeep Durishetty said that the move would help these children who were earlier excluded from the Rajiv Aarogyasri Health Insurance Scheme and, as a result, lacked access to free secondary and tertiary medical care, despite being highly vulnerable due to the absence of familial and financial support.The transport minister said that it was a historic moment as Aarogyasri orphan cards will be distributed to orphans for the first time in the country. He added that the govt will also improve the situation of the CCIs in the coming days.