Key ESI meeting on Friday; Will higher wage ceiling figure in the agenda?

New Delhi: The Employees' State Insurance (ESI) Corporation will hold its 196th meeting on Friday (June 27) in Shimla, even as key employee demands, such as raising the wage ceiling for beneficiaries, remain unresolved.

The higher limit for a salaried worker to avail of the ESI scheme was capped at Rs 21,000 in 2017.

Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had promised to increase the upper limit during the 194th meeting last October. However, the issue was not included in the agenda of the next meeting in December.

Reports suggest that it is not part of the agenda for the meeting on Friday (June 26) either.

The ESI Act came into effect in 1948 and was the first significant move by the state to provide social security to workers in independent India. Benefits include free medical treatment amounting to Rs 10,00,000 annually.

Following the 2017 move, more than 80,00,000 people were excluded from the benefits of the scheme. The standing committee had recommended that the upper salary limit be raised to Rs 30,000, but the board has not yet called for a final decision on the matter.

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), the trade union backed by the Sangh Parivar, had also demanded a wage limit raise of up to Rs 42,000. In April, they demanded that the Centre stop contractual appointments for staff in ESI hospitals and upgrade services, including ensuring medicine supply, lab facilities, and the availability of qualified doctors and specialists to avoid referring patients to private hospitals.

In the upcoming meeting, the BMS will ask the board to retract the 2022 order by the Corporation to direct patients to government facilities instead of private hospitals.

ESI member and BMS representative S Durai Raj said that action would be taken against employees who recommended action not approved by the board. Major labour unions such as the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), and United Trade Union Congress (UTUC) would be consulted regarding various issues, he added.