Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Zubin Irani inaugurated the newly built ESI Dispensary and Branch Office at Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh today. This will benefit 60,000 ESI beneficiaries of Rae Bareli area. In addition, about 15,000 workers will also get cash benefits from the ESIC Branch Office. Shri Rameshwar Teli, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment and Petroleum and Natural Gas, Smt. Purnima Shrivastava, Chairperson, Rae-Bareli Municipality, Shri Dinesh Pratap Singh, Member Legislative Council, Uttar Pradesh were also present at the inauguration.
Speaking on the occasion Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, expressed her happiness and said that ESI Dispensary, Rae Bareli was operating in a rented building since 1978, which Government now dedicates to the people of Rae Bareli by getting this complex constructed through CPWD. Smt. Irani handed over monthly pension approval letters to the beneficiaries under the ‘Covid-19 Relief Scheme’, a measure by ESIC towards strengthening financial condition of the families affected by Covid-19 pandemic.
ESI Dispensary and Branch Office, Pragati Puram, Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh was constructed at a cost of Rs. 2.27 crore in a 933 square meter campus. The Dispensary is having 2 Doctors, Pharmacist, Lab Technician etc. and emergency services, OPD, Pharmacy, Oxygen Cylinder, Testing Machine etc. have been provided in the dispensary.
Addressing on the occasion, Shri Rameshwar Teli told that ESI Hospitals served the nation by providing Medical Facilities/Services to the people during the Covid pandemic. ESIC has launched ‘COVID-19 Relief Scheme’. ESIC provides 90% of the average salary to the dependents of IP, who unfortunately passed away due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Further, through the ‘Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana’, if the insured person loses his/her job, he/she is given a relief of 50% of the average daily earnings during the last four contribution periods. As a once-in-a-lifetime measure, relief is paid up to a maximum of 90 days of unemployment. Relief is paid directly to the insured persons in their bank account by ESIC Branch Office on submission of claim.
Shri Teli further in his address said that the largest share of workers is of unorganized workers and for the first time under the leadership of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi a ‘National Database’ has been prepared for the unorganized workers, which has been named as ‘E-Shram Portal’ and appealed to the people to come forward in maximum numbers to get registered on the portal at the earliest. The Minister also visited the E-shram camp and distributed the ‘E-Shram Card’ during the event.
The registration on the E-shram portal is very simple and free. One gets an insurance cover of Rs. 2 Lakh after registration on the portal. So far around 9.5 crore people have been registered on this portal.
ESI Scheme in Uttar Pradesh
The ESI Scheme is fully implemented in 41 districts of the State and partially in 1 district. One Regional Office at Kanpur and 3 Sub-Regional Offices at Noida, Lucknow and Varanasi have been established for effective administrative control in the State. Presently ESIC is providing cash and other benefits to the beneficiaries through 36 Branch Offices and 2 DCBOs (Dispensary-cum-Branch-Offices). There are 16 hospitals (10 under ESI scheme and 6 under ESIC) and 16 dispensaries (including 94 allopathic, 11 Ayurvedic and 11 homeopathic dispensaries) that provide medical services to their beneficiaries. In addition to this, 3 MEDUs and 61 tie-up hospitals also provide services to the beneficiaries.
ESI Scheme in India
ESIC is a leading Social Security Organization that provides comprehensive social security benefits such as proper medical care and a range of cash benefits in times of need such as employment injury, illness, death etc. The Act now applies to over 12.36 lakh factories and establishments across the country. This scheme is benefitting about 3.41 crore family units of workers across the country. Since its inception in 1952, ESI Corporation has till date established 160 Hospitals, 6 Medical Colleges, 2 Dental Colleges, 2 Nursing Colleges, 1502/308 Dispensaries/ISM Units, 559/185 Branch/Pay Offices, 49 Dispensaries, cum Branch Offices And 64 regional and sub-regional offices have been established.