The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Rajajinagar ESIC Hospital on the road to complete modernisation

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Sunday, Aug 17, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Rajajinagar ESIC Hospital on the road to complete modernisation

Special Correspondent

Upgradation to cost Rs. 160 cr., to be completed in 18 months

A block with a 12-bed casualty ward and a
six-bed gynaecology ward will be built
‘ESIC ready to build a 200-bed hospital at Peenya Industrial Area if Government gives land’

BANGALORE: The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital, Rajajinagar, here will be upgraded at a cost of Rs. 160 crore in the next 18 months.

Union Minister of State for Labour Oscar Fernandes, who performed ‘bhoomi puja’ here on Saturday for modernising the hospital, said the plan included modernisation of reception and waiting hall, accident and emergency services, wards with nursing and ancillary facilities, intensive care unit, MRI, CT scan, laundry, kitchen and other civic amenities.

New facility

Under the remodelling, a block with a 12-bed casualty ward and a six-bed gynaecology ward, with ancillary facilities and air-conditioning would be built, he said.

The hospital, which has been functioning since 1961, has 500 beds. It was taken over by ESIC on April 1, 2003, as part of the Model Hospital Scheme, which was implemented in each State. Mr. Fernandes said the ESIC is ready to build a 200-bed hospital at the Peenya Industrial Area if the State Government agrees to provide land and stamp duty exemption for registration of property.

The facility would benefit factory workers in the area, he said. ESIC runs 144 hospitals in the country and there is a shortage of doctors in all its hospitals, he said.

The Centre will provide training to para-medical staff and nurses for effective delivery of services.

There is a plan to provide insurance cover to 30 crore below poverty line people in the next five years; the current year’s target is to cater to at least six lakh people, he said.

Bill

Stating that the Centre has decided to introduce an Unorganised Social Security Bill in the coming session of Parliament, the Union Minister said 94 per cent of the country’s work force was in the unorganised sector. A proposal was mooted to provide all facilities received by the Class IV government employees to safai karmacharis.

Earlier, Minister for Labour B.N. Bache Gowda said seven hospitals and 99 dispensaries in the State provide healthcare to government employees and their family members. Nearly 2.35 crore workers (92 per cent) in the State were in the unorganised sector, while 20 lakh workers existed in the organised sector. Nearly six lakh people were employed in garment factories at Peenya Industrial Area alone, he said.

Staff crunch

Karnataka ranks fifth in the country in ESIC coverage, the Minister said, and added that doctors did not want to join government hospitals due to less salary. He called upon Mr. Fernandes to grant more funds to the State for upgradation of ESIC-run hospitals. Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Mallikarjun Kharge appealed to the Union Minister to take the initiative to establish one ESIC medical college in each division of the State.

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan, Union Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways K.H. Muniyappa, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Kumar and MP Rama Jois spoke on the occasion.

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