ESIC to set up its first 350-bed hosp in Chakan MIDC, Baramati & Satara next

Pune: The Chakan industrial belt is set to get its first Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC)-run 350-bed hospital after the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) had allotted 8.5 acre for the facility earlier this month.ESIC Joint Director Sukanta Das told TOI that the corporation also secured land in Baramati and Satara to set up 100-bed hospitals each for employees covered under the ESIC scheme.
"Now that the land has been acquired, we will soon initiate the construction. The number of insured people in Chakan has increased rapidly. There was a long-pending demand for a dedicated ESIC hospital in the area," Das said.At present, ESIC operates only two hospitals across five districts of western Maharashtra – one each at Bibvewadi in Pune and in Kolhapur. In addition, two ESIC hospitals are run by the state govt at Mohannagar in Chinchwad and another in Solapur. However, these hospitals lack advance treatments and patients are often forced to opt for either private hospitals empanelled with the ESIC or govt hospitals.The current project in Chakan will come up in Phase II of the MIDC and is expected to also cater those from nearby industrial hubs such as Talegaon and Khed-Rajgurunagar.Das added that the existing Bibvewadi ESIC hospital, which currently has a capacity of 140 beds, is also being upgraded. "The upgraded facility will soon have a capacity of 500 beds," he said.Members of the Federation of Chakan Industries said more than seven lakh industrial workers are registered from Chakan MIDC alone and are likely to benefit from the new facility. "We demanded this hospital for several years. Though the project was approved by the Union labour minister in 2022, it was delayed due to land-related issues," said Dilip Batwal, CEO of the Federation of Chakan Industries.Batwal said the industrial belt has only an OPD facility run by the ESIC at present, but there was no hospital for further treatment. The insured workers depend on govt hospitals or private hospitals empanelled under ESIC, many of which are located far from the industrial belt. "Often they have to pay upfront for the treatment and they seek reimbursement, but it was unfair to them as they could not afford the high cost of the treatment" he said.Under the ESIC scheme, 4% of an employee's salary is contributed every month, with 3.25% paid by the employer and 0.75% deducted from the employee's wages. He said despite the amount being deducted from the workers' salary, they were not getting the facilities.