The government on Monday said two states have agreed to implement the "wider access" initiative of the Labour Ministry which aims to provide medical facilities to potential ESI beneficiaries where it may not be feasible for the state governments to do so.
"The wider access initiative aims to provide medical facilities to potential Employee State Insurance (ESI) beneficiaries under the general health system in areas where it may not be feasible for the state governments to provide medical facilities for ESI beneficiaries through the ESI system," Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya informed Lok Sabha in a written reply.
A concept note on this initiative was circulated to all the states for obtaining their in-principle consent to implement it. "The governments of Karnataka and Chhattisgarh have agreed to implement the initiative on pilot basis and accordingly identified two areas each," Dattatreya added.
The minister said wider access initiative is available to all the states that may wish to implement it in areas of their choice. He said, the state governments are required to ensure the availability of dedicated primary and secondary health care facilities for ESI beneficiaries in an area before it is brought under the coverage of the ESI Act.
At times, the state governments face difficulties in providing such dedicated medical care facilities because of the non-availability of an adequate number of ESI beneficiaries required for opening the dispensary in the area or for other reasons, Dattatreya said.
