17.80 lakh new employees enrolled under ESIC in October, a 3 pc growth

New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) As many as 17.80 lakh new employees were enrolled under the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) scheme during October this year, the Ministry of Labour and Employment said on Wednesday.

The year-on-year analysis showed a growth of 3 per cent in net registrations compared to October last year.

The data showed that out of the total 17.80 lakh employees added during the month, 8.50 lakh employees amounting to around 47.75 per cent of the total registrations belonged to the age group of up to 25 years.

According to the Labour Ministry, 21,588 new establishments have been brought under the social security ambit of the ESI Scheme in October, thus ensuring social security to more workers.

The gender-wise analysis of the payroll data indicated that the net enrolment of female members was 3.52 lakh in October. Besides, a total of 42 transgender employees also got registered under ESI Scheme, “which attests the commitment of ESIC to deliver its benefits to every section of the society,” said the ministry, adding that the payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise.

Meanwhile, 20.58 lakh new employees were enrolled under the ESIC scheme during September, reflecting the higher number of jobs being created in the organised sector of the Indian economy. The government is also working on converging the ESIC with Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).

The move will extend medical care benefits under the flagship programme to 14.43 crore ESI beneficiaries. Once rolled out, the initiative will enable ESIC beneficiaries to avail of secondary and tertiary medical services at over 30,000 AB-PMJAY-empanelled hospitals nationwide.

The benefits can be availed “with no financial ceilings on treatment costs.”

The ESI Scheme currently offers medical care under 165 hospitals, 1,590 dispensaries, 105 dispensary-cum-branch-offices (DCBOs), and around 2,900 empanelled private hospitals. In the last 10 years, the ESI scheme has been implemented in 687 districts out of 788 districts of the country, from the 393 districts in 2014.