Employers briefed on Employees State Insurance Scheme

SCHEME TO BEGIN WITH FACTORIES AND ESTABLISHMENTS WITH KITCHENS
GANGTOK, 10 Jan: An awareness programme on Employees State Insurance Scheme [ESIS] was organized jointly by the Labour Department, Government of Sikkim, and Employees State Insurance Corporation [ESIC], Government of India, here at Hotel Dew Pond situated on Paljor Stadium Road today. The programme was attended by hotel owners, representatives of shops, restaurants and other establishments which will come under the ambit of this scheme which extends insurance cover to employees.
Explaining ESIS, Amitava Dutta [Assistant Director, ESIC, Kolkata] stated that ESIS has been extended in Sikkim with effect from 01 December, 2012 and at present it was only covering factories in the state, including establishments having kitchens.
“The Scheme is being run by ESIC in Sikkim, but the Labour Department will be the coordinating department and for the initial five years all the expenses towards implementation of the Scheme in Sikkim will be borne by ESIC, as we want to really make the scheme work in Sikkim”, he added.
Explaining further, he detailed that ESIS was a social security scheme designed to accomplish the task of socially protecting employees [and their families] in the organized sector against such events as sickness, maternity, disability and death due to on the job injury and to provide medical care to the insured employees and their families.
The scheme provides full medical care to the employees registered under the scheme during the period of his incapacity. It provides financial assistance to compensate the loss of his/her wages during the period of his abstention from work due to sickness, maternity and employment-related injury and the scheme also provides medical care to his/her family members, he added.
The ESIS is meant for establishments, including hotels and eateries which employ 10 or more than 10 people. The employees or workers who are drawing salary on monthly basis not exceeding Rs. 15,000 per month will be enrolled in this scheme, employees earning less than Rs. 3,000 need not pay, but their employers will pay their contribution, while handicapped persons are exempted.
He informed that ESI scheme is a self financing scheme and its funds are primarily built out of contributions from the employers and employees monthly salary percentage. The present rate of contribution is 4.75% of the salary as employers and 1.75% as employee’s contribution.
There are two types of benefits under the ESI Scheme, one is cash benefit and the other is medical benefit. Under cash benefit come sickness benefit, employment injury [accident] benefit and funeral benefit. Under medical benefit come primary care [at ESIC dispensaries with minor ailments], secondary care [at Central Referral Hospital, Tadong, after referral by ESIC dispensary doctor] and tertiary care [CRH, Siliguri, Kolkata or any ESIC recognised hospital in the country with major ailments]. At present there were two ESIC dispensaries in Sikkim, one at Tadong and the other at Rangpo.
An insured person will be provided with two Smart Cards for self and for his or her dependents once the person is registered with ESIC. Employees can also be registered online at the website www.esic.nic.in and information can also be available at the Labour Department, Government of Sikkim.
Earlier, KR Limboo [Deputy Labour Commissioner [East], Labour Department] in his welcome address spoke about the ESI Act, 1948 which was enforced in the state from 01 December, 2012 and that the administration of the scheme has been entrusted to Employees State Insurance Corporation [ESIC], Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.