Employees' State Insurance Scheme(ESI)

17.11.2023

Employees' State Insurance Scheme(ESI) , Daily Current Affairs , RACE IAS : Best IAS Coaching in Lucknow 

Why in the news?

According to the recently released data, 18.88 lakh new workers have enrolled under the ESI scheme in the month of September 2023.

Important points:

• According to the provisional payroll data released by the Ministry of Labor and Employment, in the month of September, 22,544 new establishments were registered and brought under the social security umbrella of the Employees' State Insurance Corporation.
• Out of the total 18.88 lakh employees added during the month of September 2023, 9.06 lakh employees up to the age group of 25 years were newly registered, which is 47.98 percent of the total number of registered employees.
• Among the employees included in the Employees Provident Fund Scheme in September, three lakh 51 thousand are women.
• Besides, 61 transgender employees also registered under the ESI scheme.

About Employees State Insurance Scheme:

• What is Employees' State Insurance Scheme: Employees' State Insurance Scheme is a comprehensive social security scheme aimed at providing social security to "employees" in the organized sector in the event of illness, maternity, disability and death due to employment injury and to provide financial protection to the insured employees and their To provide medical care facilities to family members.
• How employees are helped under this scheme: Under this scheme, the registered employee is provided complete medical care for the improvement of his health and working capacity during the period of disability. There is a provision for financial assistance to compensate for the loss of wages during the period of absence from work due to illness, maternity and employment.
• Management of the Employees' State Insurance Scheme: The Employees' State Insurance Scheme is managed by a body corporate called the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) which includes the employers, employees, Central Government, State Governments, Medical Businessmen and representatives from Parliament as members. The Director General is the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation and an ex-officio member of the Corporation.
• Other bodies of the Employees' State Insurance Corporation: At the national level, the Standing Committee (representative body of the Corporation) to manage the affairs of the Corporation and the Medical Benefits Council which appoints the Benefit Officers to advise the Corporation regarding the management of medical benefits. Acts as an expert body.
• Regional boards and local committees have been constituted to review the working of the scheme at the regional level and suggest improvements in it.

Eligible beneficiaries under the scheme:

• Employees of the above categories of factories and establishments, who receive salaries up to Rs 15,000/- per month, are entitled to social security cover under the ESI Act.
• ESI Corporation has also decided to increase the salary limit for coverage of employees under the ESI Act from Rs 15,000/- to Rs 21,000/-.

Coverage of Employees' State Insurance Scheme:

• Initially the ESI scheme was implemented in only two industrial centers of the country, Kanpur and Delhi.
• The scheme has today been implemented at more than 830 centers in 31 states and union territories.

Funding of Employees' State Insurance Scheme:

Employees' State Insurance Scheme is a self-funded scheme. The funds received into the Employees' State Insurance Fund come mainly in the form of contributions from employers and employees, payable on a monthly basis as a fixed percentage of wages paid. State governments also bear 1/8th of the amount spent on medical benefits.

• The rate of contribution by the employer is 4.75% of the salary payable to the employees.
• Employees' contribution is at the rate of 1.75% of the salary payable to an employee.

Benefits under Employees State Insurance Scheme:

The main benefits offered under the ESI scheme are:

• sick benefit
• disability benefits
• benefits to dependents
• maternity benefits
• medical benefits
• Other benefits: Confinement expenses, funeral expenses, vocational rehabilitation, physical rehabilitation, unemployment allowance (RGSKY) and skill upgradation training.