ESI Benefits Available for the 1 st Time in 7 Hilly Districts , Dispensaries will open

• 11 Jul 2023

Why In News?

On July 10, 2023, according to the information received from the media, for the first time in the seven hilly districts of the state, the directorate will open dispensaries in these seven districts to provide benefits of Employees State Insurance Scheme (ESIC) to the insured personnel. At the same time, ESI hospitals are going to be opened in three new cities in the state.

Key Points

• According to the information, with the opening of dispensaries in these seven hilly districts, two lakh people, including the relatives of 50,000 insured personnel, will get the facility of free treatment.
• According to the directorate, till now the ESIC insured employees and their families in Uttarkashi, Champawat, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Pithoragarh, Almora and Bageshwar had to come to plain districts to avail health facilities. According to the figures of the Labor Department, there are 50,000 insured workers in these seven districts so far. However, there are many people in these districts who work in other states. In such a situation, their relatives will be able to take advantage of ESIC in the mountain itself.
• A 300-bed hospital is being built in Haridwar by the Employees' State Insurance Scheme, in which 250 beds will be specialty and 50 beds will be of super specialty. This hospital will be ready by 2025. After this, for the first time, ESI insured employees will get state-of-the-art and expensive treatment free of cost.
• At the same time, a proposal to build a 100-bed ESI hospital between Rishikesh-Raiwala in Dehradun has been sent to the District Magistrate. On the other hand, a proposal has been prepared and sent to Kashipur to build a 100-bed ESI hospital near the city. Till now there is only one ESI hospital in Rudrapur in the state.
• It is known that there are about seven lakh employees working in companies, factories or other institutions who come under the purview of ESI. Including their family members, the number of people taking health benefits from ESI is about 28 lakhs.
• The addresses of 10 dispensaries already running in Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar and Nainital are going to be changed. The Directorate has issued a notification for change of rental building at new places. Under this, dispensaries at Sitarganj, Bajpur, Jaspur and Rudrapur in Udham Singh Nagar district, Bhagwanpur, Haridwar and Sidcul in Haridwar, Bahadrabad and Lalkuan, Haldwani, Nainital in Nainital will be shifted to new buildings.