Rourkela ESIC Beneficiaries Demand Dedicated Occupational Disease Centre
Rourkela: Hundreds of insured workers staged a protest in front of the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Model Hospital in Rourkela on Monday, raising several demands and voicing their grievances.
The protest was organised under the banner of the Sundargarh Industrial Mazdoor Union, affiliated with the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). The demonstrators called for the conversion of the current 50-bed model hospital into a dedicated Occupational Disease Centre and Public Health Unit. They also pressed for the establishment of a full-fledged ESIC Medical College and Hospital (MCH) in Rourkela to cater to the growing needs of the region’s industrial workforce.
Jehangir Ali, vice-president of CITU’s Odisha unit, criticised the deteriorating services at the model hospital, attributing the decline to the recent transfer of 10 experienced doctors, including several specialists and the medical superintendent, to the new ESIC hospital at Angul.
According to the news reports, the model hospital at Rourkela currently has only 16 doctors against the sanctioned strength of 28. Protesters demanded that the government take immediate action to fill all vacant doctor positions to ensure adequate healthcare services.
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Speaking to TNIE, Ali further said the western Odisha region has around 12 lakh ESIC beneficiaries, including their dependents, who are mostly tribals. They face a higher risk of occupational health hazards and endure healthcare inequalities. A dedicated occupational disease centre would serve as a regional diagnostic, treatment, and research hub focusing on industrial illness.
Similarly, a public health unit would ensure outreach, preventive care, health education and early detection services. There is also a need for setting up of ESIC MCH at Rourkela in the larger health interest of the beneficiaries, he added, reports TNIE.
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