NEW DELHI: The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has decided to set up dispensaries cum branch offices (DCBO) in each district of the country to improve the service delivery mechanism, the Labour Ministry said on Wednesday.
The decision was taken at the meeting held between ESIC officials and Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangawar in Delhi.
“The DCBO will provide primary medical care, referrals for further medical care and scrutiny of referrals,” an ESCI official said and added that the DCBO will also help in distribution of drugs to other dispensaries of the district.
The ESIC will bear the establishment and operational cost of the DCBO. A decision to commence a nursing internship programme in ESIC was also taken during the meeting. “The programme would be open to fresh nursing graduates who are looking to improve their professional skill sets. The nurses would have an opportunity to do this in real-time situations under the supervision of regular staff,” a labour ministry official said.
According to ESIC officials, a proposal is being drafted to give the interns a stipend of Rs 22,000. “The selection of the candidates would be purely on merit and the number of interns would be around 20 per cent of the sanctioned nursing staff of the hospital,” the official added.
The ESIC also gave in principal approval to the Modified Insurance Medical Practitioner (IMP) Scheme. The scheme allows people to avail cashless treatment with the help of the Insurance Medical Practitioner in areas where ESI does not have its medical establishment. The decision to construct ESI hospitals in Bahadurgarh, Haryana; Varanasi, UP and Patna was also taken in the meeting.