VISAKHAPATNAM: The Union Labour Ministry has scaled down a 500-bedded ESIC hospital sanctioned for Visakhapatnam to a 350 bed hospital as the state government could not alienate the required land for the 500 bedded hospital.
In reply to a query by BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao in Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Union Minister of State for Labour Rameswar Teli said the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) had initially accorded in-principle approval for the construction of a 500-bedded hospital at Visakhapatnam, which was subsequently changed to 350-bedded hospital with additional 50-bedded Super Speciality Wing due to non-availability of additional land for staff quarters. “A fund of `384.26 crores was sanctioned for the hospital.
The land for the project was mutated in the name of ESIC on Oct 28, 2022 and the matter has been taken up with the State Government for the change in land use in order to award the work to the construction agency as well as scheduling the date of commencement/completion of the project,” said the minister.
“The 125-bedded ESIC hospital at Malkapuram in Vizag is currently under repair and another 30-bedded hospital at Achyutapuram, outside Visakhapatnam, has been approved. Eight more ESIC hospitals were sanctioned, but construction could not be started. AP has not yet allotted land for the construction of ESIC hospitals at Guntur, Nellore, Penukonda and Sri city,” added Narasimha Rao.“Gross negligence on part of the State Government in identifying land for ESIC Hospitals has resulted in denial of healthcare benefits,” Rao said.