ESIC decides 'in principle' to set up hospitals in Srinagar, Leh

The Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) on Friday decided "in principle" to set up a 100-bed hospital in Srinagar and a 30-bed hospital in Leh.

The ESIC, during its 178th meeting on Friday under the chairmanship of Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar, has taken some important decisions towards improvements in its service delivery mechanism, according to a statement by the labour ministry.

During the meeting, the "in-principle" approval was accorded for setting up of a 100-bed hospital in Srinagar and a 30-bed hospital in Leh, it added.

The Corporation provides health insurance to formal sector workers through its scheme employees' state insurance (ESI). It also runs hospitals and dispensaries across the country.

The ESIC during the meeting also in principle took decision to open up its under-utilised dispensary-cum-branch office (DCBO) pan-India to non-IPs (insured persons) on a nominal user charges basis on the same line of opening its under-utilised hospitals.

It also decided to open its hospitals in Sarojini Nagar (Lucknow) and Jajmau (Kanpur) for non-IPs.

Earlier, the ESIC had allowed non-IPs to avail medical services at its hospitals in Alwar (Rajasthan), Bihta (Bihar), Gulbarga (Karnataka), Bareilly and Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh).

Now, non-IPs can avail the medical services at a nominal charge of Rs 10 for consultation.

On this occasion, Gangwar also announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for ace para-shuttler Pramod Bhagat, who is an ESIC employee posted in the Odisha region.

In the meeting, approval has also been accorded to provide cashless secondary and tertiary medical care services under Ayushman Bharat package rates to entitled ESI beneficiaries in newly implemented area of 102 designated districts through PMJAY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana) empanelled hospitals in states where the scheme has been adopted by the states.

The ESI beneficiaries would get medical expenditure support of up to Rs 5 lakh.