Union Minister of State for labour and Employment, Bandaru Dattatreya said that ESI dispensaries in the State will be upgraded into 10-bed hospitals. He said this while attending the Bhoomi Pujan for ESI hospitals to be constructed at Tarla Nagal in Dehradun, SIIDCUl Haridwar, Rudrapur and ESI branch office and ESI dispensary at Selaqui, Dehradun. The programme was organised at Pharma City, Selaqui here on Monday evening.
Speaking on the occasion, the union minister said that ESI dispensaries in Uttarakhand will be upgraded into 10-bed hospitals. If the number of workers in Kashipur is found to meet the standards, approval will be given for construction of a 50-bed ESI hospital there, he said. An insured person should be treated as a VIP in the ESI, added the minister.
Speaking on the occasion, the Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat thanked the union minister for approval to ESI hospitals in Dehradun, Rudrapur and Haridwar. He said that considering the number of workers living in Kashipur, approval should also be given for setting up a 100-bed ESI hospital in that town. At least a dispensary should be opened at Bhagwanpur, Roorkee, laksar, Jhabreda and all district headquarters, said the chief minister. He further directed the officials concerned of the executing agency to ensure swift construction of the ESI hospitals and dispensary for which the Bhoomi Pujan was held on Monday. The chief minister informed that the State Government is attempting to maximize the number of workers under the purview of ESI. Under the chief minister health insurance scheme, the State Government is providing an insurance cover of up to Rs 1.5 lakh, added Rawat.
The State labour minister Harish Chandra Durgapal, chief secretary Rakesh Sharma, Employees’ State Insurance Corporation director general Deepak Kumar, ESIC Dehradun regional director Amarjit Singh, ESIC State medical commissioner Dr Naresh Kumar Arora and labour secretary RK Sudhanshu were also among those present on the occasion.