The Employees State Insurance(ESI) scheme will soon be introduced in Mejia and Borjora areas of Bankura district in West Bengal, approval for which is lying with the West Bengal government.
On the sidelines of an interactive session organised by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry(BNCCI), Tapan Kumar Bhattacharya, additional commissioner and regional director of ESIC, said that the corporation had sent a letter to the government for introducing the scheme in the areas of Mejia and Borjora in Bankura, which had been pending for the last six months.
Time taken by other state governments for clearing such approvals would be a maximum period of three to four months, he further added.
The scheme is introduced on an area specific basis where there would be a minimum of 3,000 industrial workers, further informed Bhattacharya.
Districts of Purulia, Birbhum and Rampur had also been identified for introducing the scheme, he further added.
This apart, the corporation is looking at offering post graduate courses in medicine at its medical college in Joka, slated to be started from 2010-11 academic session.
The corporation was also facing a 40 per cent shortage of specialist doctors at its hospitals, which was the rationale behind offering the post graduate courses to meet the manpower crunch, admitted Bhattacharya.
It was also at coming up with hospitals at Baltikuri and Joka, slated to come up within a maximum period of eighteen to twenty months.
There are around 144 such specialist doctors currently availed by the corporation.
It would also be upgrading the infrastructure of its hospitals at Bandel and Belur.
This apart, it would also ensure IT upgradation and facilities throughout its centres.
It had over 30 lakh beneficiaries in the state, informed Bhattacharya.
