(a) whether the Government has any proposal to extend the Employees’ State Insurance
Corporation (ESIC) Scheme to the unorganised workers;
(b) if so, the details and features thereof; and
(c) the time by which the said scheme is likely to be implemented?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI HARISH RAWAT)
(a) to (c): The Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 applies to non-seasonal power using
factories employing 10 or more persons and non-power using factories and some specified
establishments such as shops, hotels and restaurants, cinemas and preview theatres, road-motor
transport undertakings and newspaper establishments employing 20 or more persons. The Act
mostly applies to workers in the organized sector. However, there is a proposal to permit
the BPL workers registered under the “Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana†to utilise the medical
facilities from designated ESI Hospitals on payment of user charges.