The Union Labour Ministry is working with States/UTs towards expanding services and benefits of the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) to all districts in the country, Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said.

He also said that ESIC/ESIS beneficiaries will have access to quality medical facilities in more than 30,000 hospitals empanelled under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)

Chairing a regional meeting on labour reforms and employment with 5 western States/Union Territories (UTs) (Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, and Lakshadweep), Mandaviya said that the Centre is committed to enhancing collaboration with States/UTs for labour reforms, quality employment generation, labour welfare and social protection for all workers.

Converging ESIC and AB-PMJAY on the cards

This meeting, which was held in Rajkot, Gujarat, was the third in a series of six regional meetings being organised across the country by the Ministry of Labour & Employment with the States/UTs to discuss key labour and employment issues. Mandaviya highlighted that planning is under way to converge ESIC and AB-PMJAY.

“Under this policy, ESIC/ESIS beneficiaries will have access to quality medical facilities in more than 30,000 hospitals empanelled with AB-PMJAY. This will eliminate distinctions with respect to access to services offered by Government, public sector and private hospitals, allowing beneficiaries to receive treatment in any empanelled hospital,” he added. 

In his address, Mandaviya said that the Centre is committed to providing comprehensive and accessible social protection coverage to all workers in both organised and unorganised sectors. 

He emphasised the need for an enhanced coordination between the Centre, States, and UTs to harness Information Technology (IT), including Artificial Intelligence (AI), in a bid to improve beneficiaries’ access to quality services. He Mandaviya also said ESIC’s Dhanwantari portal will be in line with global standards.

Job matching

Centre is working towards upgrading the NCS portal with advanced technologies, including AI, and integrating it with e-Shram, to make it the preferred destination for employers and job-seekers in terms of job-matching in both organised and unorganised sectors, he added.

Mandaviya said that States/UTs and the Centre should set up a mechanism for timely compilation of more accurate employment-related data. This data should feed into a centralised dashboard equipped with advanced analytics, simulation, forecasting and modelling, which would be accessible to the Centre and States/UTs, he stated.

He also said that since the States/UTs are implementation agencies for majority of welfare, social protection, and employment schemes/measures and thus, have their ears to the ground, they should strengthen the mechanism of feedback collection from beneficiaries. There is need to establish frequent dialogue between the Centre and the States/UTs for sharing of such feedback, experiences, challenges and best practices, he said.

At the meeting, discussions were held on key issues, including Labour Reforms, e-Shram, Building and other Construction Workers (BoCW), National Career Service (NCS) portal, Employment Generation and Measurement, and Employees State Insurance Corporation/Scheme (ESIC/ESIS).

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