Centre plans to take over delivery of medical services to workers

New Delhi, Oct 11 (UNI) The Centre plans to take over delivery of medical services from the states to serve insured people directly under the Employees' State Insurance Scheme, Minister of State for Labour, Chandra Sekhar Sahu today said.

Launching the IT-enabled services of the ESI Corporation to faciliate online delivery of registration and payment of contribution, Mr Sahu said 22 ESI hospitals have already been taken over from states to be run as model hospitals.

''The launching of this pilot project fulfils a long cherished dream of the ESI Corporation to go online,'' he said.

The online service, which is now available in Delhi and Haryana with today's launch of the facility, will be extended to the rest of the country soon, he added.

The IT-enabled services allow online registration of employers, payment of contribution and registration of employees. It will benefit about 4.3 million beneficiaries in Delhi and Haryana.

When implemented across the country, the online delivery will benefit more than 30 million employees.

Under the ESI Scheme, workers get full medical care, cash benefit in case of loss of wages due to illness, accident or death and even in cases of involuntary unemployment due to closure of factories.

UNI FZ PR DB2113