Kolhapur: ESI hospital to be taken over by Central Government

Kolhapur: In the absence of fund allocation, staff and machinery, the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) hospital in Kolhapur city which was abandoned since its construction 20 years ago owing to failure of the state government is going to be added to the account of central government.

The Central government is ready to take over the ESI hospital due to its long term failure in respect to provide healthcare facilities.  The centre has made a target to make the hospital fully functional from May 1, 2017.

The hospitals was constructed with the aim to provide healthcare benefits to labourers or employees registered with the state government from the region. As per the estimates, over 50,000 families will be benefited directly if the hospital is made functional.

It is reported that to run the said ESI hospital, the state government had made an agreement with private firms providing medical services to run the hospital. However, since the expiry of the agreements, the hospital functioning has come to a hold.