PremiumEmployees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has planned to fill 6,400 vacancies including posts for more than 2,000 doctors and teaching faculty, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said. ESIC is also working towards providing a skills-based training programme to the workers and has launched certificate courses in 10 disciplines.
Delivering the Second Graduation Day Keynote Address at the ESIC Medical College and Hospital today at K K Nagar in Chennai, Yadav said that as part of the Union Government's objective of the modernisation of facilities under the 'Nirman Se Shakti' initiative, Centre will be setting up 23 new 100 bedded hospitals across the country, as well as, 60 dispensaries to ensure the delivery of quality medical care service.
"We are also setting up over 60 dispensaries that will ensure the delivery of quality medical care service to injured workers and their dependents in the vicinity of their residences. The Union Government is ensuring that our services are available to a wider population. We are focused on creating an infrastructure for easy access to medical services for our country's workers, and ESIC itself has had a huge role to play in it. This ESIC Medical College has provided Out Patient Department (OPD) service for 5,76,329 beneficiaries with a daily average OPD Census of 2,153 since January this year. Today, we are working towards Pan India coverage under ESIC and are constantly creating more infrastructure and capacities. We have introduced a cath lab at ESIC hospitals in three cities in India" Yadav said.
"As part of promoting preventative healthcare practices amongst the masses, the ESIC department has launched medical health checkups for 15 industrial clusters- this communicates a significant shift in approach", he added, adding that it is not the workers that visit the hospitals, but ESIC is now reaching out to the workers at their workplaces.
Further on occupational diseases, the minister said, “Under the vision of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are targeting occupational diseases. Occupation-based health checkups and follow-ups are being done regularly, especially for women beedi and brick kiln workers. Moreover, preventative and curative solutions for their health problems are also being researched".