Plan to cover all 681 districts under ESIC scheme by year end: Dattatreya

In order to extend social security coverage of Employee’s State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) scheme, Minister of State (I/C) for Labour & Employment Bandaru Dattatreya has taken several new initiatives.

The steps that have been taken to improve medical care being provided under the ESI scheme include, extending the social security benefits of the scheme in the remaining northeastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Andaman & Nicobar Island, an official release said.

“At present, the ESI scheme is being implemented in industrial/commercial clusters within districts and the target was to cover all 393 districts, where these clusters are located. Now, the further target is to cover all 681 districts of the country by end of this year,” Dattatreya said in the release.

The ESIC has been providing health care and other social security benefits to workers of specified wage group over the past 65 years as a labour welfare measure.

Opening health scheme on pilot project basis for selected group of unorganised workers like rickshaw pullers, auto rickshaw drivers in selected urban/metropolitan areas are the few other initiatives taken by Dattatreya during his past two years of the tenure.