Model ESI Hospital sought in Jalandhar

Aparna Banerji

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Jalandhar, January 17

After flagging an alleged scam in funds for the Smart City Project in Jalandhar, district BJP leaders have now sought the conversion of the ESIS (Employees State Insurance Scheme) Hospital in Jalandhar to a Model Hospital. District BJP leaders have written to Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal seeking that the currently dilapidated ESI Hospital in Jalandhar be converted into the second Model ESI Hospital in the state, after the one in Ludhiana, given the large number of industrial workers residing in Jalandhar and its periphery.

While industrial workers are provided treatment at ESI hospitals on subsidised rates, BJP leaders have sought upgrade of the Jalandhar ESI Hospital to sustain the health and treatment of the bustling industrial workers in Jalandhar.

Jalandhar BJP leaders —- district party president Sushil Sharma and Jalandhar urban general secretaries Rajesh Kapoor, Ashok Sareen Hicky and Amarjeet Singh Goldy — wrote to Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on the issue on January 15, 2024. They also met the minister with the request.

The BJP leaders have said that with 5,650 industrial units/factories, hospitals and educational institutes in Jalandhar district, the local industry provides direct or indirect employment to more than 1,50,000 workers/ employees with more than 6,00,000 of their family members, all of whom are liable for treatment at the ESIS Hospital, Jalandhar.

Situated at Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, Jalandhar, the ESIS Hospital is being run by Punjab Health Services, Chandigarh, after getting the required day-to-day financial support from the ESI Corporation.

In their letter, the BJP leaders state, “The (ESI) hospital is 100-bedded but it is in a bad shape and requires immediate attention for renovation/upgrade to Model ESI Hospital and should be run by ESI Corporation itself. Services in ESIS Hospital in Jalandhar are totally mismanaged. Doctors, especially radiologists, orthopedists and other specialties are short and therefore no proper/timely treatment is given to patients and their families. In most cases, patients are referred to the Government Hospital for treatment. Life-saving drugs are not available. Poor patients are asked to purchase medicines from their own resources and claim reimbursement which is given after six years. In some cases, bills are not reimbursed for two to three years.”

The letter further states that as per provisions of ESIC, there should be two corporation-run Model ESI Hospitals in each state but Punjab has only one —- located at Ludhiana. “The second Model ESI Hospital should be opened at Jalandhar which will serve the insured persons of Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar districts and their surroundings.”

They have urged the minister to ensure the shifting of one dispensary each from SUS Nagar and Focal Point to the Industrial Area and Maqsudan, respectively.