24 DEC 2018

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated the renovated and upgraded 100 bedded ESI Hospital, Bhubaneswar (Odisha) to the Nation from IIT Campus, Bhubaneswar along with the basket of different projects of Govt. of India on 24.12.2018 (Monday).

The other dignitaries to grace the occasion were Professor Ganeshi Lal, Governor, Odisha, Shri Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Odisha, Shri Jual Oram, Minister of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Govt. of India and Dr. (Prof.) Prasanna Kumar Patasani, MP, Bhubneswar.

In his address, the Prime Minister said that the existing 50 bedded ESI Hospital Bhubaneswar has been renovated & upgraded to 100 bedded hospital with a project cost of Rs. 73 crore (aprox.). Equipped with all the modern facilities, this hospital will provide good medical care to beneficiaries under ESI Scheme of Bhubaneswar area. He said that the Central Govt. is working to provide the good quality medical care to every citizen of India. For this purpose, Wellness Health Centres are also being opened under ‘Ayushman Bharat Yojana’ to provide medical care in the remotest part of India.

The other projects inaugurated/foundation laid during the event were of Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Govt. of India, etc.

ESI Scheme in India

The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation is a pioneer Social Security organization providing comprehensive social security benefits like reasonable Medical Care and a range of Cash Benefits in times of need such as employment injury, sickness, death etc. The ESI Act applies to premises/precincts where 10 or more persons are employed. The employees drawing wages up to Rs.21, 000/- a month are entitled to health insurance cover and other benefits, under the ESI Act. The Act now applies to over 10.33 lakh factories and establishments across the country, benefiting about 3.43 crores Insured Persons/Family Units of workers. As of now, the total beneficiary population of ESI Scheme stands over 13.32 crores. Ever since its inception in 1952, the ESI Corporation has, so far, set up 154 Hospitals, 1500/148 Dispensaries / ISM Units, 815 Branch/Pay Offices and 64 Regional & Sub-Regional/Divisional Offices.

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28 SEP 2018

Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour & Employment, inaugurated the renovated and upgraded 100 bedded ESI Hospital at Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) today.

Addressing the gathering on the occasion Shri Gangwar informed that the 50 bedded ESI Hospital, Tirupati has been renovated and upgraded to 100 beds capacity with project cost of aprox. Rs. 110 Crore having basement, ground and five floors.  The hospital building is centrally air conditioned with inpatient and outpatient departments and will provide treatment facility in various departments. This hospital is equipped with facilities such as OPD, IPD, Wards, emergency, diagnostic services, Operation Theatres, ICU, NICU, CT Scan, X-ray and many more. More than 3 Lakh Insured Persons and their family units will be benefited by Upgradation & Renovation of this hospital.

The ESI Scheme was introduced in Andhra Pradesh in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad on 01.05.1955. With the passage of time, the Scheme was extended in a phased manner to several industrial centres all over Andhra Pradesh. After the formation of Telengana state on 2nd June, 2014 , the Sub-Regional office Vijayawada was upgraded as Regional office for Andhra Pradesh from 1st May, 2016.  As a result, the jurisdiction of ESIC Regional office, Vijayawada was extended to all thirteen districts of Andhra Pradesh with effect from 01.05.2016. The area of Yanam of Union Territory of Puducherry is also attached to Andhra Pradesh region.

The ESI Scheme stands fully implemented in all the 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh and at present the number of Insured persons and ESI beneficiaries in the State are over 16.74 lakhs and 64.96 lakhs respectively. The number of employers (Factories and establishments) covered under ESI Scheme in the State is 36,422. Besides, 4324 Educational Institutions and 944 private hospitals/educational institutions were also brought under the coverage of ESI Act.

Medical facilities are provided to the Insured Persons and their beneficiaries through 79 ESI Dispensaries, 4 ESIS Hospitals with a combined bed capacity of 335, 3 Diagnostic Centres, 123 panel clinics, 98 tie-up hospitals and 34 Super Speciality tie-up hospitals. The Regional Office at Vijayawada, Sub Regional Office at Vishakhapatnam and Tirupati and 21 Branch Offices looks after the implementation of ESI Scheme and provides all assistance to the Insured Persons and their beneficiaries.

Shri P Satyanarayana, Minister for Labour, Employment, Training and Factories, Govt of Andhra Pradesh, Smt. M Sugunamma, Member of Legislative Assembly, Tirupati Constituency, Shri Raj Kumar, DG, ESIC and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

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Maternity benefits to workers in the private sector are regulated under Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Act, 1948 and Maternity Benefit (MB) Act, 1961. The Government has already enhanced paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for up to two surviving children under the ESI Act,1948 vide notification dated 20.01.2017. So far as enhanced benefits under MB Act, 1961 are concerned, the Government introduced Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 before Rajya Sabha. The said Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 11.08.2016 and Lok Sabha has also passed the Bill with some amendments on 09.03.2017.

Both the Acts provide for protection of rights of working women through robust and proper mechanism including inspections by the field officers. The Acts provide for stringent penalties, including imprisonment, for violations of its provisions to ensure proper implementation.

This information was given by Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, the Minister of State (IC) for Labour and Employment,in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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The move will help 1.2 crore people who will now be eligible for health care benefits.

The Centre’s move to increase the wage ceiling for employee coverage under the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, to Rs 25,000 per month from the existing Rs 15,000 per month limit is expected to benefit a larger working population and include approximately 30 lakh more workers to the Employees State Insurance (ESI) pool.

The move would also benefit 1.2 crore more people who will now be eligible for health care benefits at more than 1,500 clinics and hospitals run by the ESIC directly or indirectly. Earlier as of March 31, 2016, there were around 2.1 crore persons who were insured under the ESI Act and a total of over 6 crore beneficiaries. Employees and employers contribute to the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation at the specified rates, which are currently, 1.75 per cent of the wages (employee’s contribution) and 4.75 per cent of the wages (employer’s contribution) paid/payable in respect of the employees in every wage period.

However, the increased wage ceiling is expected to pose a challenge to employers in terms of the wage costs to be borne by them, said Nishith Desai Associates, legal and tax councillors.

Employers, it noted, would now be required to make provisions of cash benefit and health insurance for an extended employee population who draw wages up to Rs 21,000 per month. It also sees this as a challenge for the government to ensure that the quality of medical facilities (including hospital infrastructure) provided under the ESI Act are improved such that the desired benefit is achieved. It is a positive move with the objective of expanding the ambit of social security schemes to a larger working population.

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