The Labour Minister on October 30 inaugurated a 100-bed ESIC Hospital at Rudrapur in Uttarakhand, an official statement said.



The hospital, which has been constructed on a plot area of 5 acres along with 32 staff quarters at a cost of Rs 97.72 crore, will offer outpatient services initially. However, in due course, the ESIC Hospital shall be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities like operation theatre, casualty block, radiology, orthopedic clinic, psychiatric clinic, general medicine and others for the insured persons and their dependants, the labour ministry said in a statement. "This hospital would be exclusively run for the benefit of insured persons and their family members covered under ESI Scheme," the minister said.

The minister added that the government has already reduced the ESI contribution rates being paid by employees and employers covered under ESI Scheme from 6.5 per cent (employees' share 1.75 per cent and employers' share 4.75 per cent) to 4 per cent (employees' share 0.75 per cent and employers' share 3.25 per cent).

For this reduction, around 3.6 crore employees and 12.85 lakh employers will be benefitted. He also said the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has taken many decisions like opening of under-utilised ESIC Hospitals and Dispensary-cum-Branch Office (DCBO) pan India and starting of Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana, among others.

He also spoke about the steps taken by the Centre to promote ease of doing business by amalgamating 38 labour laws into four labour codes. He said the Pradhan Mantri - Shram Yogi Man Dhan Yojna (PM-SYM) has been started by the government for workers of the unorganised sector.