Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurates 100-bedded ESIC Hospital in Angul

Bhubaneswar: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has inaugurated a 100-bed Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital in Angul. 

Inaugurating the hospital in his home district, the Union Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister on Wednesday said "the inauguration of ESIC hospital in Angul is one among the many visionary projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi." Pradhan said the facility will benefit about 3 lakh people.  

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Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Rameswar Teli and Odisha's Minister for Labour & ESI, Srikanta Sahu, and DG, ESIC, M S Bhatia were present on the occasion.

A sub-regional office of the ESIC was also opened in Jharsuguda.

Stating that Angul and Jharsuguda have many industries, so also the labour force, Pradhan said it is the duty of the government to ensure their well-being and this hospital as well as the sub-regional office will serve that purpose. "It (ESIC hospital) has acted as a Sanjeevani for the people of Odisha and saved many valuable lives during the second wave of the Covid Pandemic," he said.

Talking about the initiatives of the government in the past eight years, Pradhan said the Modi government has replaced the provision of royalty with the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) scheme, which ensured that mineral-rich districts get adequate funds for development directly from the Centre.

Pradhan also said that the government has significantly increased the minimum wages of the labourers by about 50 per cent during the past eight years. Through e-Shram, the Centre now has collected the information of about 27 crores registered labourers including 1.3 crores from Odisha and this data now will be used for their benefit with the extension of several social sector schemes and also skill development training, he said.

Speaking at the inaugural function, Teli said that three new ESIC hospitals, a 150-bed at Bhubaneswar, a 100-bed hospital at Duburi in Jajpur district and a 30-bed hospital at Paradip have been sanctioned by the Centre.

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