The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) on June 19 decided to implement the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) throughout the country by the end of 2022.
- Currently, the ESI health Scheme is fully implemented in 443 districts and partially implemented in 153 districts. A total of 148 districts are not covered under the ESI Scheme.
- The ESIC, under the chairmanship of Minister of Labour and Employment Bhupender Yadav, in its 188th meeting has taken significant decisions to augment the medical care and service delivery mechanism across the country.
- The medical care services will be provided through establishing new DCBOs (dispensary cum branch offices), by empanelling mIMP (Modified Insurance Medical Practitioner) and tie-up hospitals of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).
- The ESIC has also decided to allow insured workers and their family members to avail cashless medical care services through Ayushman Bharat PMJAY empanelled hospitals in all the areas where the ESI Scheme is partially implemented or to be implemented, or where existing ESIC healthcare facilities are limited.
About Employees’ State Insurance (ESI)
- The Employees’ State Insurance Scheme is an integrated measure of Social Insurance embodied in the Employees’ State Insurance Act.
- It is designed to accomplish the task of protecting ’employees’ as defined in the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 against the impact of incidences of sickness, maternity, disablement and death due to employment injury and to provide medical care to insured persons and their families.
- The ESI Scheme applies to factories and other establishment’s viz. Road Transport, Hotels, Restaurants, Cinemas, Newspaper, Shops, and Educational/Medical Institutions wherein 10 or more persons are employed.
- However, in some States threshold limit for coverage of establishments is still 20.
- Employees of the aforesaid categories of factories and establishments, drawing wages upto Rs. 21,000/- a month (increased from Rs.15,000/ ), are entitled to social security cover under the ESI Act.
- ESI Corporation has extended the benefits of the ESI Scheme to the workers deployed on the construction sites located in the implemented areas under ESI Scheme w.e.f. 1st August, 2015.
- The ESI Scheme is financed by contributions from employers and employees.
- The rate of contribution by employer is 4.75% of the wages payable to employees. The employees’ contribution is at the rate of 1.75% of the wages payable to an employee.
- Employees, earning less than Rs. 137/- a day as daily wages, are exempted from payment of their share of contribution.
The following benefits are provided to the insured persons(I.Ps.)and their family members under the provisions of ESI Act.
- Medical Benefit.
- Sickness Benefit
- Maternity Benefit
- Disablement Benefit.
- Dependant’s Benefit.
- Funeral benefit.
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