Baddi belt with 5,000 units lacks model hospital

The industrial belt of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, which houses about 5,000 industrial units and has 64,000 insured persons, does not have a model hospital.

Entrepreneurs have raised concern over the issue because as per the ESI (Employees State Insurance) guidelines, a 50-bed hospital should be provided where the number of insured persons (IPs)was more than 50,000.

A CII delegation led by Rajender Guleria, chairman, CII Himachal Pradesh State Council met RI Singh, director general, Employees' State Insurance Corporation in Delhi to discuss the provision of ESI Model Hospital at Baddi and also to streamline the day-to-day functioning, while dealing with the ESIC's authorities in the State.

On the issue of construction of ESI Model Hospital at Baddi, RI Singh assured the CII delegation that it would be worthwhile to have a model hospital at Baddi keeping in mind the number of IPs at Baddi.

The corporation was willing to initiate the construction of the model hospital at Baddi. However the details are yet to be worked out with the Himachal Pradesh government.

Talking to Business Standard, a senior official of the Himachal Perdesh health department said discussions were on to finalise the modalities of the project.

But the developments in this regard were taking place at a snail's pace as a decision was taken in March 2005 by the Regional Advisory Committee of Baddi to construct a model hospital at Baddi.

ESI authorities did not get any communication from the state government in this regard in the past one year. The industrialists have earmarked a piece of 10,000 square feet of land in Baddi for the proposed project. ESI would build and run the hospital but the project has been lingering on due to laxity on the part of the government.

The apathy of the state government can be gauged from the fact that despite the substantial availability of financial resources with the corporation, at present the average expenditure amounts to Rs.494 per IP against the provision of medical benefit of Rs.900/- per IP. Out of Rs 494 per person only Rs 43 is spent on the medicine and balance was administrative expenditure.

The general hospital located at Parwanoo is the nearest medical centre for the people working in Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh belt. But it provides only OPD services and is insufficient to cater to the burgeoning number of workers.

The Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh became a cynosure of industrial development after the special tax concessions were announced for the hilly state.In the past four years the state has attracted about 20,000 crore of investment and major chunk has been invested in this part.

Till date, no step has been taken by the estate government for the development of infrastructure in this region. Roads are in bad shape, housing is inadequate and civic amenities are poor. In the absence of proper planning,a haphazard development is taking place.