Latest news with #Employees'StateInsurance
Hans India
5 days ago
- Health
- Hans India
ESI Hospital ready for inauguration
Rajamahendravaram: A state-of-the-art Employees' State Insurance (ESI) Hospital, constructed at a cost of Rs 56 crore in Rajamahendravaram, is ready for inauguration. Built to match the standards of corporate hospitals, the facility is expected to significantly enhance healthcare services for insured workers across the region. The Central government approved funding for the hospital project on August 19, 2020. Built on 5.83 acres, the construction was delayed and completed on December 30, 2024, with the hospital handed over to the Andhra Pradesh government in June 2025. Originally a 50-bed facility established in 1987 during the TDP regime, the hospital has been expanded to 100 beds, though formal approval for this upgrade is still pending. A report detailing necessary medical equipment, human resources, and operational funds has been submitted to the state government. Former MP Maganti Murali Mohan initiated the project in 2018, and the foundation was laid then. Minister Vasamsetty Subhash visited twice for progress reviews, but essential medical equipment is still awaited. The upgraded hospital includes 32 outpatient (OP) rooms, a casualty unit, minor operating theatre, pharmacy, and emergency ward on the ground floor, while the second floor is dedicated to mother and child healthcare, featuring an ICU, PICU, and third floor has six wards, a library, and administrative offices. Equipped with four lifts, centralized air conditioning, 50 CCTV cameras, and Braille signage, every bed has oxygen and ventilator facilities. Currently, the old 50-bed hospital operates with 30 staff members, but the new facility will require at least 300 personnel, including 100 doctors. The hospital plans to offer 26 types of medical services, including general medicine and surgery, although details on super-specialty services remain unclear. Officials are optimistic that once fully equipped, it will be a vital secondary care facility for the region's workforce.
The Hindu
22-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Rural development department workers stage wait-in protest
Members of Tamil Nadu Rural Development Department Workers' Union affiliated to the AITUC staged wait-in protest at Vannarpet here on Tuesday with their tiffin-boxes to highlight their demands. The protestors, led by S. Edwin, district president of the Union, district and block-level coordinators should be appointed on permanent basis so that monitoring and follow-up of the works would become easier. The Tamil Nadu Government, as promised, should give the incentive to all workers involved in COVID prevention activities. The district and the block-level coordinators and the computer operators should be given annual increments. Gratuity should be given to all temporary workers and all vacancies in the village panchayats filled-up. Minimum wages should be fixed as per law and given to the sanitary workers, motivators, pump operators, overhead tank operators and computer operators. Social security schemes like Employees' State Insurance, Provident Fund etc. should be extended to these workers, they said. State coordinator of the Union S. Govindan, state joint secretary V. Paramasivan, state president of AITUC S. Kasi Viswanathan and others spoke.
Deccan Herald
22-07-2025
- Deccan Herald
The missing safeguards in India's workplaces
Three recent events symbolise workers' plight due to a lack of safety at India's workplaces. On June 30, in Telangana's worst industrial mishap, 46 people died, eight are still in hospital, and another eight are still missing, some possibly charred beyond recognition. This human tragedy in an industrial area was caused by the explosion of a reactor in a chemical plant, heard several kilometres away. To call it an accident absolves the management of the neglect of proper maintenance or not adhering to safety protocols. In the same Sangareddy district, 25 workers died within four months in 2024. The cases of injuries or near-fatal cases that have not been reported can only be guessed. But Sangareddy is just an illustrative case, not an isolated one, across the June 7, in the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) area near Pirangut on the outskirts of Pune city, 18 workers were charred to death, 15 being women, in a deadly fire in a chemical factory. An investigation by some intrepid labour activists revealed that the workers were not even aware they were handling hazardous chemicals. They were marked by codes masking the true name of the chemicals. It was revealed that the women workers were paid less than minimum wage. The vulnerable are exploited, have job insecurity, and face the most unsafe and risky conditions. This company has been in operation since 2012, but got registered only in 2020. It also managed to obtain an ISO 9001 certification for quality management. No inspector ever visited the factory till this 'accident' happened. This cannot be attributed to the ease of doing business. While EODB has shifted the onus to self-certification on the owners and managers of factories, it surely does not mean complete abdication of inspection, especially of worker safety in hazardous industries. It is made worse by the management's greed and corner-cutting, like disabling safety sensors or running the presses at higher speeds to achieve sales third event is the launch of a report called 'Crushed'. This is India's only long-running, evidence-based report published by Safe In India (SII), an NGO dedicated to improving worker safety in India's manufacturing sector, particularly the automotive and auto-component industry, which accounts for one-third of the manufacturing sector's GDP. SII's work has increased worker awareness about the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) scheme and the ESIC role. Over the past seven years, SII has helped 10,000 workers access ESIC benefits, but this still represents only 40 per cent of the victims. In the last few years, the vendors to the top ten auto brands accounted for the crushed fingers of 2,333 workers. This work breaks the silence around injuries, showing its true scale with official statistics. It also throws up laughable instance, the source of data could be from two arms of the government, the labour ministry and the insurance corporation. In Haryana, routinely, the ministry reports the number of injuries around 40 to 50 per year for several years. But the ESIC claims benefits are going to nearly a thousand workers. And this is with only 40 per cent awareness among workers. It is clear that thousands of workers are getting killed or maimed across the automotive sector, and the official silence must be the Economic Survey of this year has highlighted the issue of workplace safety. It says that Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) regulations are not to be seen as burdensome expenses but as a strategic investment. The SII estimates that the country loses up to 4 per cent of GDP due to neglect of safety. India ranks a low 133 in global labour productivity, and this rank is directly correlated with inadequate OSH standards and poor working conditions. India's rank is significantly below China, Vietnam, and Mexico. Investment in safety and OSH protocols not only improves the life of the worker and her family but raises productivity and morale, and improves the trust between workers and management. For the factories, it reduces absenteeism, medical expenses, and penalties for and lesson from neighbouring Bangladesh is telling. In 2013, an eight-storey building housing garment factories collapsed in the Rana Plaza, killing 1,134 people. This shocking incident led to drastic changes, including the putting in place of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety, which led to the training of 1.4 million workers. It was certainly a factor that increased Bangladesh's garment sector competitiveness, and its exports outpaced even India and Vietnam. Even Chile and Costa Rica experienced strong labour productivity growth due to improved OSH standards and reduced occupational most ironic thing about the provision of workplace injury and death benefits or compensation is this. The ESI scheme was established by the ESI Act of 1948, the same year as the setting up of the National Health Scheme of the United Kingdom. Both aim to provide universal social security and healthcare (in the case of India, to workers, and in the UK, to all citizens). The present reality is that almost all UK citizens have access, and get benefits from the NHS, whereas for the ESI, many workers are not even aware of their rights and benefits. In design, the ESI is one of the world's finest schemes, but in implementation, it falls well way forward is clear. There should be complete transparency in data reporting on accidents and fatalities, making it consistent across ESIC and the Labour Department. Compliance to safety and OSH protocols must be incentive-based. There should be a Public Private Partnership (through NGOs if necessary) to increase worker awareness about rights and safety. Top brands must be made accountable for practices in their vendors, across the supply let us note that worker safety does not merely have an instrumental value but is ultimately a moral and ethical commitment too..(The writer is an economist; Syndicate: The Billion Press)
The Hindu
20-07-2025
- The Hindu
TNCSC contract computer operators demand regularisation, basic entitlements
Contract computer operators working under Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) have renewed demands for regularisation, citing over 16 years of continuous service without job security, statutory benefits, or basic workplace rights. At a State-level meeting held in Tiruchi on Sunday, the operators passed a resolution pressing four key demands: immediate regularisation of all contract computer operators, provision of basic amenities for women including functional toilets in all godowns, grant of paid maternity leave, and an end to arbitrary and frequent transfers. Operators A. Manivannan from Nagapattinam and S. Sivashanmugamani from Tiruppur said the monthly salary, which began at ₹4,500, was revised to ₹13,648 in March 2022. However, they alleged irregularities in deductions made for Provident Fund (PF) and Employees' State Insurance (ESI), with little transparency or accountability. 'Despite the DMK government's electoral promise to regularise contract workers, TNCSC continues to take a hostile approach. We are denied even casual leave. For women, there is no maternity leave, and basic facilities like toilets are missing in many centres,' said Mr. Manivannan. Workers also alleged that women employees faced arbitrary transfers and punitive actions for minor issues, including discrepancies in attendance records or leave applications. In some cases, they claimed staff were locked out of work without prior notice.
The Hindu
11-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Coimbatore Corporation to hold special camps to correct ESI record errors for contract workers
Contract conservancy workers employed by the Coimbatore Corporation are facing difficulties in accessing medical care due to discrepancies in their Employees' State Insurance (ESI) records. Errors such as incorrect personal details and inclusion of deceased family members have led to delays, especially during emergencies. The Corporation employs over 3,400 contract conservancy workers. A portion of their wages is deducted towards ESI contributions, entitling them to medical benefits. Workers said that ESI identity cards were not issued for several years despite repeated demands. Following protests and pressure from trade unions, ESI certificates were issued last year. However, many of these documents reportedly contain errors, including incorrect mobile numbers, marital status mismatches, and outdated information. In some cases, names of deceased parents have been listed as active dependents. Due to these discrepancies, several workers have been denied timely medical assistance or have faced delays in treatment. Corporation Commissioner M. Sivaguru Prabakaran said ward wise special camps will be held to assist workers in updating their ESI records, including name corrections and addition of valid family members. He added that the issue would be resolved within 10 days.
