In significant decisions taken to augment medical care and services across the country, the Centre has decided to implement the ESI scheme in the entire country by the end of this year, said Bhupender Yadav, Minister of Labour and Employment, at the 188th meeting of ESIC held on 18-19 June in Hyderabad.
The ESI Corporation will also establish 23 new 100-bedded hospitals and 62 dispensaries, start certificate courses in its medical colleges for health care link workers, and extend the benefit of cashless medical care services to people through Ayushman Bharat PMJAY empanelled hospitals in the areas where ESIC’s health care facilities are limited.
The Centre will recruit for 6,400 vacancies for different posts advertised in last eight months, said Bhupender Yadav, Minister of Labour and Employment.
The ministry of labour and employment will also establish radiation oncology and nuclear medicine departments at ESIC Medical College and Hospitals at Sanath Nagar, Faridabad and Chennai and open Cath Labs at ESIC Medical College & Hospital, Sanath Nagar and Alwar. The ESIC hospital at Bibewadi, Pune will be upgraded to a 500-bedded hospital, while a new 100-bedded ESIC Hospital will be constructed in Ernakulam, Kerala.
Presently, the ESI scheme is fully implemented in 443 districts and partially implemented in 153 districts of India, while 148 districts are not covered under the scheme. By the end of 2022, the partially implemented and non-implemented districts will be fully covered.
ESI Corporation has decided to set up 23 new 100 bedded hospitals across the country. Six hospitals in Maharashtra at Palghar, Satara, Pen, Jalgaon, Chakan and Panvel; four hospitals in Haryana at Hisar, Sonepat, Ambala and Rohtak; two hospitals each in Tamil Nadu (at Chengalpattu and Erode), Uttar Pradesh (Moradabad and Gorakhpur) and Karnataka (Tumkurand Udupi), one ESI hospital each in Andhra Pradesh (Nellore), Chhattisgarh (Bilaspur), Goa (Mulgaon Goa), Gujarat (Sanad), Madhya Pradesh (Jabalpur), Odisha (Jharsuguda) and West Bengal (Kharagpur) will be set up.
In addition, doctors’ dispensaries at 62 places will also be opened: 48 in Maharashtra, 12 in Delhi and two in Haryana. These hospitals and dispensaries will deliver quality medical care service to insured workers and their dependents near their residences, read the official statement.